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Years teaching overall: 20
Years teaching at Severn School: 6
Currently teaching: School Counselor for grades 9–12; 9th grade Health and Wellness; and Leadership seminars for grades 10–12
Proudest teaching moment: “As with many educators, my proudest moments are not actually my own. They happen when my students surpass what they previously thought possible for themselves. I started working with a young woman early in her high school career, at which point she was struggling in some profound ways, causing her to disengage from school and those around her. By the time she graduated, however, a lot of that was starting to change, and I had the privilege of getting to know her and supporting her during that bumpy, but beautiful transition.”
Teaching Philosophy: “I believe that education must start with relationships. When young people feel understood, appreciated, and cared for, they are more likely to engage with their learning and take the kind of positive risks necessary for academic and personal growth. One of the reasons I enjoy working at Severn is because my own educational philosophy jibes with Severn’s mission to ‘know and value’ each student while challenging them to reach higher.”
Toughest challenge facing educators: “I think the toughest challenge for educators today is something I call ‘input overload,’ a phenomenon that affects students and teachers alike. Thanks to the incredible volume of information available for consumption in today’s world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed or distracted, leading to higher and higher levels of stress—for everybody! Educators must paradoxically battle the lure of the screen at the same time that they incorporate the ever-changing technology into their lessons. Students’ social and academic lives revolve around computers, a fact which at once presents amazing potential and myriad hazards. The amount of mental energy required to keep all this “input” balanced, stay focused on the task at hand, and keep one’s sight on future goals (whether we’re talking educational goals on the part of the teacher or personal goals on the part of the student) is immense. The world is a faster place than it used to be, but human brains are still the same as they were before the Internet.”
Severn School (Teel Campus), Severna Park
Years teaching overall: 20
Years teaching at Severn School: 6
Currently teaching: School Counselor for grades 9–12; 9th grade Health and Wellness; and Leadership seminars for grades 10–12
Proudest teaching moment: “As with many educators, my proudest moments are not actually my own. They happen when my students surpass what they previously thought possible for themselves. I started working with a young woman early in her high school career, at which point she was struggling in some profound ways, causing her to disengage from school and those around her. By the time she graduated, however, a lot of that was starting to change, and I had the privilege of getting to know her and supporting her during that bumpy, but beautiful transition.”
Teaching Philosophy: “I believe that education must start with relationships. When young people feel understood, appreciated, and cared for, they are more likely to engage with their learning and take the kind of positive risks necessary for academic and personal growth. One of the reasons I enjoy working at Severn is because my own educational philosophy jibes with Severn’s mission to ‘know and value’ each student while challenging them to reach higher.”
Toughest challenge facing educators: “I think the toughest challenge for educators today is something I call ‘input overload,’ a phenomenon that affects students and teachers alike. Thanks to the incredible volume of information available for consumption in today’s world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed or distracted, leading to higher and higher levels of stress—for everybody! Educators must paradoxically battle the lure of the screen at the same time that they incorporate the ever-changing technology into their lessons. Students’ social and academic lives revolve around computers, a fact which at once presents amazing potential and myriad hazards. The amount of mental energy required to keep all this “input” balanced, stay focused on the task at hand, and keep one’s sight on future goals (whether we’re talking educational goals on the part of the teacher or personal goals on the part of the student) is immense. The world is a faster place than it used to be, but human brains are still the same as they were before the Internet.”
