Teachers in Training
WHAT DO SOME OF POTOMAC’S MOST ADMIRED TEACHERS – Melissa Bagley, Caitlin Condie, Annabelle Dunn ’85, Mary Kate Facchina, Rob Lee ’78, Sarah Lucas, Ross McEwen, Brian Parry, Jordan Rucker, Shefali Sardar, and Kristin Smith ’94 – all have in common?
Before embarking on their teaching careers, each of them was an intern or teaching fellow at Potomac, in a program that has existed in a variety of forms since 1985.
Today, the program has grown and changed in exciting and innovative ways. What was once a part-time internship has become a full-time fellowship, offering a unique opportunity for aspiring teachers to fully immerse themselves in the life of the school. One of the program’s leaders is Annabelle Dunn, whose own experience as an intern has now come full-circle.
She explains, “The goal is to provide experience for recent college graduates who want to work in an independent school. Because independent schools usually look for teachers with several years of experience, our program gives teachers-in-training the chance to do some intensive student-teaching in an independent school environment. They also contribute to Potomac outside the classroom – for example, by helping to coach a sport, robotics, or debate.”
Annabelle leads the Teaching Fellows Program in partnership with Assistant Head of School Tim Jaeger. The two are responsible for selecting and guiding the young professionals who will spend two years developing their teaching skills at Potomac. Currently, the program includes four fellows; next year, it will be expanded to five. Potomac’s current teaching fellows are Luke Hernandez, Shing-Wai Koo ’13, Kate Pattison, and Matt Phelan, who work in the Intermediate, Lower, Upper, and Middle Schools, respectively.
Tim observes, “This initiative benefits everyone involved. The fellows bring tremendous energy and eagerness to learn. And their presence here provides our veteran teachers with the chance to mentor people who want to step into their shoes someday. That’s really rewarding for everyone.”
Shing-Wai says that she first considered a career in teaching when she was a student at Case Western Reserve University. When she was given a class assignment to write a letter to a famous person, Shing-Wai put her musings about education into words in a letter to then-President Barack Obama – and he wrote back!
“He told me that America needs teachers with the kind of passion I have, and that he thought I’d do a great job,” Shing-Wai recalls. “So I took those words to heart and decided to keep going with this teaching thing.” She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, spent a year and a half as a teaching assistant at Ivymount School in Maryland, and finally returned to Potomac – where, like Annabelle, Shing-Wai was once a student.
She says, “Though I only graduated six years ago, Potomac has changed in some ways, and so have I. But a lot of the things that I appreciated while I was a student here have stayed the same. It’s still a really warm and inviting school.” She adds, “I see my fellowship as a totally new experience – this is my workplace now; it’s an environment where I can grow professionally every day.”
So far, Shing-Wai has worked with two mentors: Kristin Smith, who teaches first grade, and Jenni Hoffmann, who teaches second grade. “I think the blend of their two different teaching styles, their years of experience, and their deep knowledge of Potomac’s culture have taught me a lot,” Shing-Wai reflects.
Matt Phelan, who is in the second year of his fellowship, has worked with Middle School teachers Meredith Brooks, Deirdre Furr, and Joy Webster. He notes, “They’ve taught me so much about lesson planning and classroom management, which is so important for the age group I’m teaching.
And, honestly, also the value of asking for advice. In this program, everyone’s more than willing to collaborate with you, to help you in any way that they can.”
Tim Jaeger emphasizes that these mentor-fellow relationships are beneficial for the mentors as well: “When you’re teaching the craft of being a teacher to someone else, you have to really stop and think about everything you’re doing. You think, ‘Why am I doing it this way? How does this best serve my students?’ And thinking about the answers to those questions makes both you and your mentee better teachers.”