Why did you want to become a teacher?
Being a teacher was never my plan. After I graduated from the University of North Carolina, I was working in a very different field. After a few years in the workforce, I went to grad school at Pitt and started substitute teaching to help pay for my Master’s. It didn’t take long for me to realize that teaching was what I wanted to do. I earned my teaching certification shortly after finishing my Master’s in Public & International Affairs, and I haven’t regretted it for a second.
Before becoming a teacher, where did you work?
I previously worked in politics and worked a couple different jobs in that field. I worked on the “campaign side” on two Congressional campaigns before hopping over to the “official side” to work for a Member of Congress at the Capitol in DC. In between, I spent time as a policy analyst at a lobbying firm that focused on nonprofits and community development. Look, working in politics is a tough lifestyle. It’s long hours, low pay, and you really have to believe in the person you’re working for. After a few years, I realized this wasn’t for me and I’ve since found a career that’s much more fulfilling.
What subject do you teach?
I am teaching four separate Tech Ed classes this year: Wood & Metal Fabrication, Home Maintenance and Repair, Exploring CADD, and Stage Production. I’m also a certified Social Studies and English teacher, which certainly helps with coaching Speech & Debate.
You were once a high school student at NASH. What was your favorite class here?
Social Studies was my jam, I took as many social studies electives as I could. If I had to pick my favorite class, it would have to be APUSH with Mr. Venezia or AP Euro with Mr. Mohr. Honors Foreign Policy with Mr. Lyons was also an awesome class. You really can’t go wrong in the Social Studies Department.
Before you came to NASH as a teacher, where did you teach?
Last year, I primarily taught at Ingomar Middle School. I taught Tech Ed for most of the day there and taught one class at Marshall Middle School.
Why did you switch to NASH?
Um… because they were hiring! But seriously, I knew that I enjoyed working with high school students because I was already coaching the Speech & Debate Team. There’s nothing wrong with middle schoolers — it’s a fun age — but it is nice to work with older students, as you’re able to cover higher-level material and they are (generally) a little more mature than the younger kiddos.
You were a member of the Speech and Debate Team when you were a student. How was it different compared to now?
The biggest difference is technology. Back then, we had paper ballots and tournaments took much longer. We’d be there until 6:00 or 7:00 at night. I competed in extemporaneous speaking and you couldn’t use the internet, so we had to carry big boxes of magazines and have a Dropbox that had downloaded PDFs because we couldn’t search for them. Now you can use the internet, which has its own trade-offs. Many more tournaments are run with Tabroom, an online service which makes them go much more quickly.
How was your predecessor Ms.Volpe as a debate coach?
She was tough, but she was a great coach. We did really well as a team under her leadership. A lot of what I learned about being a coach, I learned from her. She was no-nonsense, and you have to be because when you are coaching a large team like ours, you want to spend all your time coaching instead of doing administrative work. We got into this to work with kids and help make them better!
How do you get students interested in the less popular events in Speech and Debate?
Getting students to join less popular events is always a challenge, but we try to encourage students to try new events throughout their time in Speech & Debate. New members are required to attend other events’ practices periodically to learn more about what they do, and we also encourage our students who compete in partner events to try similar two-person events.
What’s your biggest pet peeve ?
I spend a lot of time making sure the email communications I send have as much information as possible so I’m not constantly bombarding students and parents with emails. There is a lot going on in Speech & Debate, so when people don’t use their resources and read the information I send them (I can tell within seconds of hearing a question if they haven’t read the emails), that does bother me. On a team of 165 students, you can’t be thinking about “I” first. You have to think about the team.
