Cape Henry Collegiate’s former 8th and now 9th and 10th grade English teacher, Mrs. Kathleen Sharp, is also a wife to Mr. Sharp and a mother to Nolan, Colin, and Kelly. Mrs. Sharp got her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and her master’s and educationalist special degrees from the University of Virginia.
Mrs. Sharp said she had a number of reasons for becoming an English teacher, but one reason really stood out to her.
“I like to use literature and poetry as conversation starters and I like to help kids find their voice,” she said. “I like to help them get ideas, and share those ideas.”
She shows she is a devoted teacher who cares what her students have to say in their writing and in her classroom. Mrs. Sharp also explained her reasoning for starting to teach at Cape Henry Collegiate.
“I came to Cape Henry from a different independent school because I wanted to come to a school where all three of my kids could be at a school for as long as possible,” she said.
After starting her journey at Cape Henry, she started to enjoy the other aspects of the community, like spirit week. Mrs. Sharp enjoys spirit week but her love for Virginia Tech allows one day to stand out to her.
“My favorite spirit day has to be college sweatshirt day, go Hokies!” she said.
In Mrs. Sharp’s life, she has always lived in Virginia but experienced different places and atmospheres in the state. She talks about her various homes with a different view on each one.
“I was from Northern Virginia and Mr. Sharp and I had moved down to this area in 1999 after being married for one year, and we lived in Norfolk for fourteen years,” she said.
Mrs. Sharp lived in Norfolk for a while teaching at another school. She said she moved to Virginia Beach due to the commute.
“Then, because I had come to Cape Henry, it was too far of a drive, so we moved to Virginia Beach and have lived in Thoroughgood ever since,” she said.
She uses these different experiences from the other places she has lived in her life and applies them to her current life. Mrs. Sharp uses and incorporates this into her teaching methods every day.
Mrs. Sharp shows her love for teaching and expresses her involvement in supporting the extracurricular activities at Cape Henry Collegiate.
“I can remember a couple years of being in the Dreyfus [and seeing students] presenting themselves in a way that I don’t see them in class, and I love that,” she said. “I love seeing my students in different areas, whether it’s sports or arts.”
She is very passionate and loving not only as a mother of three, but as a human herself. Mrs. Sharp is a devoted teacher, mother, and a caring person.
