Photo credit: Uma Nambiar

English teacher Kathleen Keelty laughs and points to a whiteboard with “Poetry Out Loud” projected on it. Natsnet Habtu (’25) said Keelty’s passion for literature comes out through her teaching, which positively impacts her students to want to learn.

A student writes prose in response to a prompt. Music is playing softly in the classroom, and someone has just read an opening poem to start the period. This is what a typical day looks like in teacher Kathleen Keelty’s Creative Writing class.

Keelty has been a teacher at Archer since the fall of 2018. This year, she teaches standard and advanced study English and creative writing classes, and she also acts as the faculty supervisor for Archer’s literary magazine Pillars of Salt. Keelty said that while she did not like English when she was younger, she grew to love it.

“When I was in high school, I didn’t like English classes at all. The way that my English classes were taught was, if nothing else, very boring. We would read things, and then we would get a test on just basic plot and details, like ‘What color was this person’s shoe,'” Keelty said. “If you didn’t get those correct, then you were not going to do well in English, which makes absolutely no sense to me.”

When Keelty was in college, she took English classes that really honed in on the craft, changed her perspective and allowed her to develop a real interest in the subject.

“When I got to college and I had professors who were in love with English and in love with writing, it changed the way that I felt about English. I realized that students need to have somebody who feels passionate about their subject in order to really appreciate it,” Keelty said. “I think I might have become the teacher who I would have needed in high school.”

English teacher Brian Wogensen has worked with Keelty for over six years, and said she is a great colleague who is committed to her teaching.

“She’s a demanding but incredible teacher. She’s very relational and cares deeply about her students. She wants to learn about her students individually so that it helps her teach them more effectively,” Wogensen said. “That’s a high-level teaching skill. The bottom line is she cares so deeply, and it’s very obvious and genuine.”

Along with teaching English and creative writing, Keelty harbors a passion for Poetry Out Loud, a program that allows high school students across the country to recite poetry and compete nationally. Keelty was involved with Poetry Out Loud when she taught on the East Coast and introduced it to Archer students in 2021.

“When I first got to Archer, I was told that we already have a lot of performing arts programs, so I did not introduce it until COVID, when I was asked to bring it to Archer,” Keelty said. ” So that was the first year we did it, which would be the 2020-2021 school year. And then the second year that we did it, the 2021-2022 school year, Mia Ronn won our schoolwide competition. Then she won the Los Angeles County level, and then she won the state of California, and then she went on to win the national award and $20,000. I think her win really propelled the program and put it on everyone’s radar.”

Since Ronn’s win, Archer students have won LA County Poetry Out Loud competitions every year. Selah Johnson (’26) and Anaiya Asomugha (’24) competed at higher level competitions, such as the state and national levels.

Keelty said her passion for Poetry Out Loud stems from her love of poetry.

“I love how you can play with language,” Keelty said. “Poetry has always spoken to me. I think there has been a comeback for poetry online, which has been so nice to see.”

Senior Natsnet Habtu is a student in Keelty’s advanced creative writing class and said Keelty has a nurturing demeanor. Creative writing is an elective class available to high school students that focuses on poetry and short story, script and freewriting. 

“Ms. Keelty is very much an outgoing person. She pushes us to speak in class and participate,” Habtu said. “She’s definitely helped my writing grow. She’s helped me not just in creative writing but in English as well. Her energy is radiant, and you can always come to her for anything.”

Keelty said one of her favorite parts of her job is seeing her students grow and watching their personalities shine through poetry and writing.

“I love that poetry doesn’t have to have one single interpretation,” Keelty said. “It’s fun to see my students interpret poems in different ways.”

By combining standard English courses with more creative aspects like poetry, Keelty’s goal is to impact the English curriculum through poetry.

“Somebody told me once that poetry can save your life,” Keelty said. “And, I think, in a way, it can.”