“It had always been kind of the goal to get back to Stillwater and just to give back to the community that gave me so much in the first place,” math teacher Julia Murphy said. Murphy may be new to teaching at Stillwater, but she definitely is not new to Stillwater.
Murphy attended Bethel University and from there started out teaching in Mounds View. Now she has returned to teach Geometry and Algebra with Quadratics.
Murphy said she went to Stillwater Area High School as a student and grew up in the community.
Murphy has always been closely connected to Stillwater. A major connection is her uncle, math teacher Peter Hamilton, but she also has other ties to the school.
“Just with staff so many of them I had as teachers, my dad’s up here, my uncle’s up here, my aunt’s up here so just being able to see them throughout the day, and growing those relationships with teachers I had and community members have for sure been some of the highs,” Murphy added.
Many of Murphy’s old teachers still work at Stillwater including Hamilton, math teacher Michael Parker, math teacher Amanda Banick, music teacher Kent Musser, social studies teacher Matt Bergquist and math teacher Sara Baumgard.
“I had her in Pre-Calc and it’s just really cool to see that her love for math and her love for teaching stayed. I think that she always knew she wanted to be a teacher and she stuck with it,” Baumgard said.
Murphy participated in several activities in high school like cross country, playing the cello, NHS and Young Life. Murphy still enjoys all of these things, however now she is a leader of Young Life.
“I’m actually involved in Young Life too, which is kind of a youth organization in the community and I was involved with that in high school here at Stillwater, and now I actually lead it. that’s been a fun involvement, too, that I’ve kind of stuck with changing roles as a student in Young Life to a teacher.
Murphy is only a quarter through her first year teaching and already her students and coworkers are appreciative of the work she has done.
Freshmen Gabby Hawke and Raiyne Simich, students of Murphy said, “She’s really nice and if you need help she understands it and makes sure that you understand it.”
She is a “fantastic teacher” and “she has already made such an impact in the math department.” Overall, “she’s just such a team player.” Baumgard said.
