What if I told you that you’re teaching Spanish tomorrow?  What if I told you that you’re teaching Foods next week? Do you think you could do it? Well, Mrs. Denise Downing did.

When asked about her subbing career at HHS, Mrs.Downing gave info about how long she’d be subbing for and how long she was planning to continue.

 “I  have been a sub for three years and I will probably remain a sub until I can’t do it any longer, which I hope is a very long time,” Downing said.

While Mrs.Downing has been around Hancock, she has also been to other schools.

“I subbed in the Mehlville school district, and I left there because I liked being at Hancock. I liked the kids much better. I liked the atmosphere here much better, so that’s why I chose Hancock over Mehlville.”

Recently a teacher left a FACS class and Mrs. Downing almost immediately became the permanent substitute teacher for theses classes.

“I wasn’t thrown into Foods, nor did I plan on subbing for it, but I don’t mind doing things differently,” Downing said. “I do miss the variety of subbing, but consistency for you guys is pretty important and that’s why the FACS position is important.”

Students were worried about Downing as it has been a couple of weeks since she was gone, but she is great now.

“I was gone due to a medical illness called a heart attack,” Downing said. “I feel wonderful, I feel great and everything is pretty much back to normal.”

Students like Cameron Hall(11) have already taken a liking to Downing’s teaching style.

“I like the way she teaches cooking-wise,” Hall said. “We actually get to use seasonings, and we have more freedom than we did before.”