Rose Gallagher is a senior at Maple Grove Senior High. She is a high- achieving student who loves social studies and history. “The hardest high school class I have taken is pre-calculus. It is very different from any math class I have taken so far and a very rigorous course,” she says.
Gallagher would like to pursue a degree in secondary education. Over the past two years she has gone on service trips to Jamaica and South Africa. “We worked in both schools and orphanages, helping teach the children, and I just really fell in love with the whole idea of teaching,” she explains.
“I think I am the best person I can be when I am around kids. They bring out the best in me,” she says.
Gallagher has represented her school for two years in a row, swimming at state tournaments. She also swims for the Edina Swim Club. Her other extracurricular activities include Link Crew and the annual music performance, Centerstage.
While she continues to be an outstanding student, Gallagher’s accomplishments haven’t come without great challenges. “I have a condition called Alopecia Areata, which is an autoimmune disease that causes no ill effect except hair loss. Because of my condition, I was completely bald in second grade,” she explains.
Then, when she was 11 years old, her father passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. “I miss him daily and wish he was here to see all that I have accomplished,” Gallagher says.
No doubt her future students will learn much from a teacher who understands what it is to overcome and also to come out on top.
