Humans of East: Mallory Dittemore

First-year teacher Mallory Dittemore who’s fresh out of student teaching at East. Dittemore has earned the title of Intro to Business teacher, Financial Literacy teacher, Digital Design teacher, freshman girls basketball coach, assistant track & field coach as well as assistant DECA sponsor.

What has it been like coaching cross country and basketball on top of teaching?

“Coaching has been the icing on the cake for me. Athletics have been a huge part of my life and I can’t imagine what I would do without sports. Being an athlete was awesome, but coaching has given me an entirely different perspective on sports. I hope that my athletes take away as many life lessons from sports that I have. Athletics truly shaped me to be who I am and it’s awesome to have a small role in that happening for my athletes now. I still am uber competitive and I get those pre-race [and] game jitters for them. I don’t think that will ever go away.”

What have been some challenges you’ve faced?

“I definitely tend to fill my plate too full with activities. I did it in both high school and college, and now I’m guilty of it in my career. I want to be the best I can in everything, so I’m really bad about slowing down and taking time to smell the roses. I’m trying to make a conscious effort to hang up the teacher [and] coach life when I leave school and just be a ‘regular person’ at home. It’s important to make time for other things so I don’t get burnt out and can continue to love what I do, and I need to be better about it.”

What has been the most successful goal you’ve accomplished at East?

Honestly, I feel like my bucket list is so much longer than my accomplishment list at East. Having both of our cross country teams qualify for state was awesome, but I can’t take any of the credit for that— it was all the athletes. I would love to be a head coach someday, and winning a state championship is definitely on my to-do list. As far as teaching goes it would be awesome to get my own classroom eventually. I would also love to increase enrollment in all business classes so we can increase the number of marketing classes and add some more course options as time goes on. 

What brought you to East?

[Business teacher] Mercedes Rasmussen was my adjunct professor during my junior year of college. I loved her class, so when it was time to pick my student teaching placement I reached out to her. During my student teaching semester at East we found out that the district was adding a teaching position to the business department. I love this school and all of the people here, so I immediately knew that I wanted to apply. The rest is history.”

Why did you choose Rockhurst for college?

“I debated between Mizzou and Rockhurst for most of my senior year. I loved my visit to Mizzou, but I didn’t really see myself joining a sorority and wasn’t sure of other ways I would be able to get involved. Rockhurst gave me a lot more scholarship money for academics and running, so that definitely persuaded my decision. I only had 25 kids in my graduating high school class, so overall I thought that Rockhurst would be a much easier transition for me than Mizzou would. Don’t worry, I traded in all of my Rockhurst apparel for East gear.”

How do you plan on impacting the kids you teach or how do you think you’ve impacted kids?

“I really hope that I have. More than anything I just want kids to know how much I care about them and I hope to be someone who always makes their day better. I try to always be in a great mood and say ‘hi’ to as many people as I can. I also hope that they learn the value of hard work. A strong work ethic, positive attitude and a sense of humor can take you pretty far in life.”

Did you know what you wanted to teach high school students?

“Heck no, I had no clue. I went in undecided and ended up loving business classes, so I declared business as my major. I decided to get an education degree as well just to give myself more options in the long-run. I honestly didn’t think that I would go straight into teaching, but when the position at East was added I knew that it was a sign telling me that this is where I’m supposed to be. I love my job and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.”