New Teacher Features 2017

Steven Goose is a first-year paraprofessional at the high school this year. Prior to working at the high school, he worked with kids as a camp counselor and as a teacher at a middle school in Natick. In his free time, he enjoys writing, as well as watching sports, specifically his favorite basketball team, the Celtics. What made you want to become a paraprofessional? This is my first year of be...

Stephanie Van Loan is a paraprofessional in the Excel Program. She has worked as a paraprofessional at McKinley High School in Boston and at Brighton High school, and usually teaches at camps during the summer.   What were your teaching experiences like prior to Brookline High School? I worked for the last 13 years at Brighton High School in Brighton. Before that I worked as paraprofe...

Cello player and cook Henry Rutherford recently joined the high school community as a paraprofessional. He likes to catch up with family and friends and play soccer on the weekends. This summer, he learned how to cook with leeks! What is one thing you like about working with students? It's kind of surreal because I haven't been back to a high school since I graduated, but it's definitely fun ...

Born and raised in Italy, Ricardo Randellini has always had a passion for education. In the past, Randellini has taught languages, scuba diving and now works as a paraprofessional at the high school. Outside of school, he enjoys playing percussion with local bands and scuba diving.   What were some of your previous jobs? In Pittsburgh I was working in this private school and it was a school for kids ...

Paraprofessional Wes McEvoy worked in special education at Chelsea High School prior to coming to Brookline High School. Besides working, Mr. McEvoy enjoys camping, especially in places that feature a lot of greenery, such as Western Massachusetts.   What made you want to work in special education? Yea, my mom was a teacher so she was a big reason why I got interested. She also works in s...

Former barista turned paraprofessional, Andrew Larson likes graphic novels, Harry Potter and working with students. He is switching from Starbucks to the classroom and is super excited to be here. Why did you choose to become a paraprofessional? I have always enjoyed working with students. I have gone back and forth regarding what I want to do as a profession: teaching or being a social work...

Megan Brady is a paraprofessional who started teaching this year. In addition to teaching, she enjoys running and teaching yoga and swimming. She ran the Boston Marathon and wants to continue to run more marathons and a half ironman in her future. She has been doing yoga since college and just started teaching this year. She grew up in Peabody, Mass., but chose to work in Brookline because she likes...

Katie Ballen recently joined the learning center team as a paraprofessional. She graduated in 2016 and has since worked at Nike and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. She hopes to explore career opportunities in education at the high school. Some of Ballen’s favorite pastimes include listening to music and doing activities outdoors.   What made you want to be a teacher? I’ve kind of...

An alumni of Boston Latin School and Simmons College, Karen Wong is an algebra and biology co-teacher at the high school. When she’s not teaching, she likes to travel and write food reviews for Yelp. What’s your favorite part of the high school so far? I would say how open the community is at BHS. Back in the day, I feel like school was very conservative. We didn’t talk much about cont...

A Brookline High alumnus, Courtney Valentine recently started his position as METCO Coordinator this school year and has an extensive background in education. Most recently, he worked as guidance counselor at Brighton High School, and before that, as a dean of discipline at Madison Park High School. Valentine is an avid sports fan; he coaches the boys basketball team and plays competitive mens sof...

Ms. Toback is a school psychologist. She has worked at several Brookline elementary schools since coming to Brookline in 2004: Devotion, Heath and Lawrence. She looks forward to working with high school students. What was the most interesting thing you did over the summer? I was training for my first marathon, which was really interesting. I got to see how my body would respond to new challenges...

A Boston College alum, Latin teacher Skye Shirley majored in English but decided to pursue her true passion for the classics. In addition to teaching, Ms. Shirley does her own free-form translations of Latin poems and is currently working on a poetry book about the whaling industry in New Bedford. Her hobbies include sewing, painting, running and participating in Tough Mudders—five to seven mile ...

Elliot Shields, a native of the Pacific Northwest, attended Pomona College, where he started out as physics major before eventually turning to mathematical economics. Shields is an Alternative Choices in Education (ACE) math teacher. He previously taught at a charter school in the Berkshires. In his free time, Shields enjoys playing video games. What do you like about teaching in Alternative Choi...

Originally from South Florida, Cassie Rubenstein is a speech language pathologist at the high school. When she is not teaching, she enjoys going to barre classes and hopes to one day become certified to teach them. Over the summer, she visited Rockport and Maine, spending a lot of time on the water. Why did you become a teacher? I am a speech therapist. I knew that I didn’t want to be a “...

Juliette Rorie is an Alternative Choices in Education (ACE) social studies teacher moving into her fifth year in the field. With a teaching background based in Boston, she is coming to teach in Brookline for the first time. Besides teaching, Rorie enjoys attending concerts and cooking. Was there anything you were nervous about before you started this year? Oh, for sure! It's a huge school. I hav...

Peter Meagher is a history teacher who is currently teaching in five different classrooms, three of which are co-taught and two for special education. He comes from a family of teachers who mostly specialized in history as well. As an avid golfer, if he wasn’t teaching, he would like to be on the PGA Tour as a golf professional.   Is there one teacher that you had that comes to mind if you...

Patrick McGee teaches world history. McGee previously worked in New York City Public Schools for seven years. He grew up in Massachusetts and attended Marblehead High School. He likes to spend time with his wife and son, read and play soccer. What was something interesting you did this summer? Well, I moved this summer from New York City to Massachusetts, so that was kind of my priority and m...

Gretchen Lima is a new health and fitness teacher at the high school. Prior to working at the high school, she taught 7th and 8th grade health at the Pierce and Driscoll elementary schools. She has coached the girls diving team at the high school for the past three years.   How does teaching high schoolers compare to teaching middle schoolers? So the freshman health and fitness class isn’t very differ...

School psychologist John Lee enjoys playing video games, dancing and teaching salsa. He and his family moved to the United States from South Korea when he was 5 years old. After working at Framingham High School and Lawrence High School during graduate school, he has come to the high school to continue practicing psychology in a school environment. How has your time at the high school been so f...

David Knott is an enthusiastic reader, hiker and language learner whose love of math led him to teaching the subject to sophomores and juniors. He grew up in Canton, Mass. and spent much of his life in Indiana, where he did not particularly like high school, or even math. When he got older and spent time reading about more interesting aspects of math, he decided to major in math during college. ...

Emily Hunt is a new health and fitness teacher this year. She has been an athlete her whole life, with an intense interest in athletics and fitness. After playing numerous sports for Walpole High School, she decided to focus on field hockey and softball in college, at Bridgewater State. She received her teaching degree so that she could pass her love for health and fitness on to her student. She has ...

Nathaniel Garcia is the newest addition to the math department. Garcia was born and raised in Southern California. He is excited to return back to the high school after student teaching here in 2014. This is his first year working as a full time teacher. He is excited to be work with math everyday and to inspire students.   What did you do this summer? This summer I dropped out of a P...

Although he is a math teacher, Taylor Dieffenbach loves to engage in discussions about books and movies with both friends and people he has just met. He enjoys playing chess, and the Massachusetts native is planning on running the Boston Marathon this April. Dieffenbach taught a course here over the summer, so he is no stranger to the building this school year. What teaching experience do you have? Wh...

A graduate of the high school, Kate Lipman is a ninth-grade social worker. When she attended the high school, she participated on the wrestling team and has recently gotten back into it along with new hobbies such as acrobatic yoga and taekwondo.   Why did you decide to become a social worker? I was thinking about this a lot. I mentioned the progressive values at Brookline High and I ...

Kate Cordner is a career counselor at the high school. She graduated from BHS in 2009 and originally taught social studies but decided to change career paths. She got her master's in school counseling at UMass Boston and worked at the Winthrop House before coming back to BHS last year to be an intern. At the end of last year, she was offered the long-term position as the career counselor and has wor...

Alexandra Haesler is a new paraprofessional at the high school. Haesler is interested in administration and public policy, and is excited to gain experience in the classroom. Her hobbies include running, hiking and other outdoor activities. What subject do you help with? I help a teacher. I work with her with any tasks that she might need, like copying, and then I serve as an extra aid in the cl...