On Friday, Oct. 11, Culinary teacher Catherine Britt will be departing Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and flying overseas to a new school called Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. Britt was offered an opportunity to teach American students Physical Education for third, fourth and fifth graders.

For the last eight years, Britt has been collecting a variety of certifications for the primary goal, which was to become a candidate for a teaching job with the U.S. Department of Defense. Britt first received an offer to work overseas a week after she got offered a job at MSD in 2017. 

“I turned down the interview because I was so excited to be coming to Stoneman Douglas High,” Britt said.

During the summer of 2018, Britt was once again offered a job in Japan; however, she declined the position so she could continue her teaching journey at MSD. Britt was contacted and informed of the position by Lauren Rosa who is an art teacher with the Department of Defense in Tokyo, Japan.

“That summer I was offered interviews, one was 30 minutes from Lauren Rosa, in Japan and also teaching Art and another was a school in South Korea that called twice…I chose to say last year to make sure my head was intact from the shooting before making any major life changes,” Britt said. 

Britt taught Algebra I for two years and then shifted to teaching culinary for the past one and a half years.

“My time at Douglas has caused the rest of my career to be a blur,” Britt said.

Not only is Britt excited to endure her new work environment, but she also hopes this opportunity will allow her to fulfill another personal goal of hers, which is to travel the world.

“I plan to expand my energy teaching my ‘babies’ and using it as a fuel to propel me in all my travel adventures on the weekends, holidays and summer,” Britt said.

As her final goodbye to all her students, Britt would like to leave them with the wise words of Eleanor Roosevelt: “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” 

Britt hopes she has been a good role model for her students and will continue to set this example for her new students in Germany.