Entering junior year, you are faced with choice of enrolling into AP classes. One of the classes that is offered is AP U.S. History, which is taught by Lauren Mosley.

Mosley is a Jacksonville native, growing up in the Catholic school system.

“In eighth grade, I became very interested in cultural geography thanks for my teacher, Mrs. Lopez at Resurrection Catholic School here in town,” Mosley said. “When I was in school at Bishop Kenny, I took geography in freshman year and realized I wanted to explore as much of the world as I could. Sophomore year, I became obsessed with the field of Humanities thanks to my teacher, Mrs. McDevitt-Smith. I want to thank Mrs. Thurson, who taught me from fifth to eighth grade, for always being a fantastic role model and inspiring the loves of Christ in her students daily.”

Mosley has been teaching here for 8 years. Before teaching, she was an archivist at the Jacksonville Historical Society.

“Being an archivist was such a great experience!” Mosley said. “At an archive, people come to research collections or to donate collections. I helped researchers with their projects, which was very fun. I also sorted through the collections we had and through the new donations, preserving the items so they won’t be damaged in the future and putting them into a database so other researchers can see what was available at our archive. I also spent a lot of time digitizing items and putting them online.”

Mosley also pursues history outside of the classroom.

“I’m kind of a history nerd: I collect letters, photos, books and other historical objects about Jacksonville history,” Mosley said. “In addition, I’m currently taking a Spanish paleography course with a former professor of mine in order to be able to read Spanish documents from the 15 and 16 centuries, and I’m learning Spanish as well.”

Outside of historical study and teaching, Mosley likes to travel to new places, being present on some school trips to Europe, as well as play video games, like Genshin Impact.

Mosley also highlights her favorite part about teaching is her students.

“I enjoy the subject, but by far, the students are what I love most about teaching,” Mosley said. “It is such a privilege to get to know the students who come through Kenny, and I hope that I can have even the tiniest positive impact on my students (or a big one!) the same way that my teachers had a great impact on me. It is a real joy to get to come to a safe, welcoming place like Bishop Kenny every day, talk about something I love and serve my students at the same time!”