When was the last time you were in the presence of a world-travelling, bike-riding, competition-winning, landscape-painting, Pokemon Go player? Maybe you have been, without realizing. Maybe it was during your last math block.

Mrs. Elaina Rogers, a recent addition to the math department at Colonial Forge teaches Algebra III/Trigonometry and Geometry, while also devoting time to some of her favorite hobbies.

“I worked at the one high school in a big county, about twice the size of Stafford, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia,” Rogers said, about her time teaching before Forge.

The Eastern Shore was a great place to foster her love of nature.

“There were plenty of campgrounds to go to, state parks, national parks, so I had some really cool experiences with nature”

Although Rogers left the wide open countryside to partake in Stafford’s busy lifestyle, she continues to make time for outdoor activities, despite difficulties.

“There’s much more traffic here,” Rogers admitted. “If I wanted to ride my bike it would be kind of dangerous. I have to use my bike rack and go somewhere like the Stafford Civil War Park or Downtown Fredericksburg. It’s harder, but I still do that.”

Downtown Fredericksburg is also an apparent hot-spot for the few avid Pokemon Go players left. Rogers was one of about eighty adults who gathered downtown a few weekends ago, reluctant to give up the game.

“I really just do it as motivation to ride my bike and get in my miles,” she explained. “Even though the kids don’t play it anymore, there are a lot of adults who do!”

Rogers’s love of nature overlaps her love of art, and she particularly enjoys painting landscapes.

“In high school, I was involved in various art competitions and I won regional and state awards,” Rogers said. “But I just couldn’t find an application for it, I wanted something practical.” Rogers had a scholarship for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, but she chose to go with Penn State instead, to pursue teaching. “I needed a fall back, and I think I made the right decision.”

That decision has allowed Rogers to travel the Americas, which she believes she couldn’t have done had she pursued an art career. Pursuing a teaching career has given her the opportunity to explore amazing places like Cozumel and Puerto Vallarta, and brought her all the way back to Virginia, where she has become a new member of the Forge family.