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Mason Zhang

Mrs. Rahimi starts off her class with a bell ringer as her daily warm up. She currently teaches four AP Language and Composition classes.

Three countries.

Six states.

But despite the constant movement, Rahimi found solace in books.

“[Moving around so much,] my refuge became books, and that just became something for me that really brought me joy and centered me.”

Rahimi’s love for English continued throughout high school, where she met her own AP English Literature teacher.

“She really was what inspired me to get my degree in English literature,” Rahimi said. “She was kind of this free spirit, and her whole demeanor and attitude just created such a warm and welcoming environment. It inspired me to be like, okay, maybe I want to be like that.”

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and Classic literature in 2000, she started her international language journey in the Czech Republic with a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program certificate.

“I liked the fact that I had a guaranteed job, and this place was gonna help me advance my English teaching career,” Rahimi said.

But after only a year in the Czech Republic, Rahimi resolved that she “wanted to go somewhere where she didn’t know how to speak the language.”

Rahimi decided on moving to Thailand, but it wasn’t only because of the language barrier. Rahimi was partially convinced by a movie, and was interested in living within that movie.

“This movie came out with Leonardo DiCaprio in it called The Beach. It’s about this group of kids who have found this secluded beach, and they’ve created their little community hidden from the world, and it was just so beautiful and inspiring. And I was like, wow, I want to go there.”

“I was living in a city called Surat Thani, which was a 12-hour bus ride south of Bangkok, and very few people were there at the time,” Rahimi said. “I taught basic English to middle schoolers in Thai public schools for two years through an online site called Dave’s ESL Cafe.”

Through online chats, she made many friends as she continued her dream life.

“When I met other Americans and some Canadians, I became friends with them and got to live my life like the movie.”

After her time in Thailand, Rahimi chose to return to the United States.

“I was 25 and I woke up and I was like, ‘You know what? I have a degree. It’s time to go home and time to start my life,’” Rahimi said. “I came down here, did the certification program, and that’s that. Six months later, I got a job at Reagan [Heights].”

At Reagan, she was the English department head for seven years. She taught while Bellaire Principal Michael Niggli was also an English teacher at Heights.

“We were hired the same year, in 2003,” Rahimi said. “We worked there together for six years until I left to take care of my baby. He [Mr. Niggli] was always incredibly professional and hardworking. I’ve kept the friendship all this time.”

This kind of work relationship wasn’t just one sided.

“We worked together for quite a while,” Niggli said. “She possesses a high level of empathy and good communication skills, which are very important when you’re dealing with teenagers.”

Her work at Reagan came to an end when she went on a hiatus from teaching after having kids.

“I ended up having four children, and it just made more sense in terms of my career and my husband’s career to stay home with the kids. And that eventually turned into 15 years.”

Rahimi returned to teaching, but this time with only one school in mind.

“In my mind, I had only one school I wanted to interview for,” Rahimi said. “With my kids going here [Bellaire], I only wanted to apply to teach here or not at all.”

Rahimi joined the AP English Language department at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. Many of her new students took a quick liking to her, such as junior Luca Chambers.

“You have to be a certain kind of person to teach internationally,” Chambers said. “Having classrooms for years in Thailand obviously fosters determination and drive that is essential for a teacher. So that is something that’s very important and has made her a great teacher, in my opinion.”

Rahimi intends to remain in the AP English Language department for the foreseeable future. She finds that books and teaching literature are her “calling.”

“At the heart of everything in my life, reading is one of the top things that brings me joy,” Rahimi said. “I’ve always been a giant reader my whole life.”