Four New Members of the High School Faculty
This year, the High School has welcomed four new members of the faculty and staff: Ms. Grafton, a history teacher, Mr. Wong, a physics teacher, Mr. Newman, a geometry teacher as well as a new position to the Grace Church School Community, athletic trainer, Ms. Lin. I had the chance to sit down with each of these individuals and ask them a few questions with the goal of allowing the high school to get to know these new faculty members a little bit better, and to make them feel welcome in our community.
Ms. Lin, Athletic Trainer
- How are you liking your time so far at Grace Church School?
Great it’s been really nice.
- What do you like to do for fun?
I like to be active, I live to travel. I like music. I like going to music shows, and I try to travel to Vancouver (where I am from)… I try to visit Taiwan, where my dad lives, every so often.
- What is your favorite book and why?
That’s a really hard question. I read a lot of stuff that is in my field. Basically anything related to sports performance or physical therapy I love.
- How does Grace Church School compare to where you taught or worked before?
This seems like a very friendly and laid-back environment. When I taught at Spence, they had uniforms, so Grace seems more laid back in that regard. We have this great new facility and program, which I am really excited to develop.
- What is your personal teaching style like?
I try to make it more of an individual approach with everyone because everyone is different. It really depends on the person.
Ms. Grafton, History Teacher
- How are you liking your time so far at Grace Church School?
A lot. Really fun. Had a much better time on the 9th grade overnight, which I was slightly nervous about. The kids were great and willing to have a good time. Classes here are serious but there’s a nice goofiness to it that kind of keeps things light, which I really appreciate.
- What do you like to do for fun?
I am a big reader. I also just began playing rugby again after an eleven year period where I did not; this has been going somewhat well. I have a four-year-old who takes up pretty much all of my time. I am a also a baker but I have a ways to go on that.
- What is your favorite book and why?
That is a really hard question because I have a lot of favorite books in different genres. My favorite historical fiction is, Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield: it’s a fictional account of The Battle of Thermopylae. This book brings something to life that seems kind of dull on the page. This is one of the books I occasionally force people to read.
- How does Grace Church School compare to where you taught or worked before?
I think what I really like about Grace Church and what makes it different and what made me want to work here more than anything was that I felt like the schedule here was actually built to maximize the experiences for the students. The schedule here is built with the intention to make things as easy as possible for the students.
- What is your personal teaching style like?
I like everybody to talk. Not just me. I think that as much as possible the classroom should be a place where everyone has equal access and equal voice. My ideal teaching style is basically to do as little teaching as possible and have the students direct most of it, but that does not always work out.
Mr. Newman, Geometry Teacher
- How are you liking your time so far at Grace Church School?
I love it so far. The students have been really nice and so have the other teachers. I love that there is open time like the long lunch and the tutorial period when you can help students.
- What do you like to do for fun?
I like to tutor math, but that’s also my job. I also love to play with my four-year-old son.
- What is your favorite book and why?
To Kill a Mockingbird, I always liked that one growing up because I wanted to be like Atticus.
- How does Grace Church School compare to where you taught or worked before?
It is similar in a lot of ways, it was a small private school with motivated students, but it was so new that we were not sure it was going to survive…so that was stressful. Grace is really well established and really well respected.
- What is your personal teaching style like?
First, I need every student to know that I care about them and want them to succeed. I try to involve everyone by calling on a lot of different people during class. I use funny examples when I can to keep people engaged.
Mr. Wong, Physics and DTC9 Teacher
- How are you liking your time so far at Grace Church School?
On one hand there is an interaction with students and on the other hand there is an interaction with other teachers…In terms of learning about the teaching environment and what to/how to do and how to use the software, I’ve had a lot of support from my colleagues which I feel like would be a lot harder to come across had I chosen to teach at another school.
The classes I am teaching are DTC9, robotics and physics…my experience with the students really varies; on one hand the freshman in DTC9 are timid and on the other hand there are students that try and test my limits. However, my experience with the juniors and seniors in my physics class is very different… these students have already settled into the flow of classroom life at GCS and I can actually learn a lot while teaching these students…they have a better understanding of what they want to learn and how they want to learn.
- What do you like to do for fun?
Really for me what I find fun is usually finding quiet time, or playing games on my phone during my commute. Otherwise, I like to be up to date with innovative technology and new technology for making things. It’s also relaxing to plan out my day or the week so I feel less stressed.
- What is your favorite book and why?
I would say I definitely enjoy reading the Bible because there is a lot of life application and it is constantly renewing the way I think. The other book I really enjoy reading is How to Stop Worrying and How to Start Living, by Dale Carnegie. I think that the book has its charms in being written in language that is a bit old fashioned, but it really encourages readers to look at the bigger picture instead of focusing on little things that we may not have control over.
- How does Grace Church School compare to where you taught or worked before?
Where I taught before was at the Cooper Union Summer STEM program. Grace is similar in that there is a lot of room to develop my own curriculum and to try out new teaching methods and content. Grace is different because at Cooper Union I did not have to give grades for the summer program.
- What is your personal teaching style like?
I would say how I usually do things is I plan out the general scope of topics to cover throughout the semester on a weekly basis, but I understand that things are always subject to change, so I try to do my best to adapt to the needs of the students.