With the beginning of a new school year, the Museum School welcomed three new teachers to its community. These additions have proved to be beneficial for both the new teachers and their students.
Graham Schneider teaches Global History for freshmen and Participation in Government and Economics for seniors, and is originally from the Seattle area. He attended Carleton College, a small liberal arts college in Minnesota, and later earned a graduate degree from Harvard University.
After graduating college as a religion major, he “had no idea what [he] wanted to do,” and spent time traveling before teaching English in Thailand. What started as a way to support his travels turned into a passion for teaching, ultimately leading to his current career. While this is his first year at Museum School, this is his tenth year teaching, having previously worked at a charter school in Brooklyn.
Mr. Schneider said he enjoys working with high school students because “you can really talk about the real world in a way that you can’t with younger kids. High schoolers, they can take more responsibility and they can ask really interesting questions.”
When asked what attracted him to Museum School, he stated that he really liked module week, saying “I think field trips are great. It’s a great way to get to know the kids in a way that you can’t always in a normal classroom.” While he initially came for the academic aspect of the Museum School, he said, “What I’ve actually really appreciated so far is the community. I’ve been really pleasantly surprised at how nice everybody is at Museum.”
Liam McCarthy, a senior in Mr. Schneider’s PIG and Economics class said his favorite part of the class was “just talking to him about what we’re learning and asking him questions about how it’s actually applied.” When asked if he feels like Mr. Schneider’s teaching allows for open and real conversations, he said, “I think it does! I talk to him a lot about current events and the impacts of what we’re learning on the actual day-to-day.”
Wendy Chen, the new Geometry and Precalculus teacher, taught for seven years before coming to the Museum School this year. She teaches a total of five classes a day: four periods of Geometry, as well as one Precalculus class. She earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brooklyn College.
For Ms. Chen, she “always thought of becoming a teacher, but there were times when [she] went [through] a transition and thought about other career paths too.” Even though Ms. Chen took a short break from teaching, she ultimately ended up back in education.
Peter Bagayoko, a junior in Ms. Chen’s Precalculus class finds her support very helpful, saying that, “she’s willing to work with students during lunch and tries her best to make sure that people are understanding the material taught in class.”
When asked what his favorite part about her class is, he said, “My favorite part about her class is how you can see […] that she’s well-intentioned and only wants to help her students learn. She makes me want to try harder, and I’m glad to be in her class.”
Dina Darwish teaches ninth and tenth grade ELA, and got her education at Hunter College. Originally, she wanted to be a therapist, so she got her bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology and later one in English literature. When asked how she found herself pursuing education, she said, “I do love English. I do love literature. I do love reading. So I want to do that for the rest of my life and the career that seems most fitting is to be an educator.”
For her, a big appeal of Museum School is its flexibility in how lessons are taught. Darwish stated, “This school helps me out a lot, especially with curriculum making. I love making new curriculum based on texts like the Odyssey.” Focusing on literary appreciation, she says she tries to foster literary appreciation for these texts “because I love them as much as I’m teaching them.”
Alice Camacho, a sophomore in Ms. Darwish’s class said, “The sophomores love her because she’s one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, and she’s a very good teacher.” Her praise even extended beyond the classroom, saying that, “Yesterday [at the bake sale], she went, she bought mad brownies, mad white chocolates, and just handed them out to us. It’s so nice.”
As Schneider, Chen, and Darwish continue their first year at Museum, their stories prove that this school encourages growth–for both students and educators. From engaging in discussions about real-world issues to extra help during lunch periods, their impact is already being felt throughout the school.
