Samuel Dreyfus

An alumnus of the high school, Samuel Dreyfus is starting his first year teaching social studies. He has been teaching for three years, and before that, he worked as a substitute and paraprofessional in the Brookline and Boston Public School systems. In his free time, he enjoys visiting the beach, singing and engaging in social justice work.

What was your high school experience like? Since you are an alumnus of the high school, what has changed?

My high school experience was really great. I loved the options that were open to me. It sounds corny to say “freedom and responsibility,” but that really had a big impact on me as a student. Open campus was such a big example of that. When I was a senior, my friend and I had our free blocks lined up on Thursdays with X-block. We had 2.5 hours in the middle of the day in the spring of our senior year. We rode our bikes to the Museum of Fine Arts and wandered around the exhibits.

How did your experience at the high school make you think differently?

There were opportunities to engage with classmates and teachers outside of class in projects that were part of making the world better. Before there was a social justice class, there was a club that met during X-block called Student Action for Justice and Education. But then also, teachers were teaching their classes about systems of injustice and people who had fought for justice — The idea was that we should really learn about people’s experiences and engage with the world, and there was a sense that we have a responsibility to make the world better.

Why did you decide to become a social studies teacher?

I’ve always been very interested in history. I have this sense that history was this thing that happened, and a lot of really terrible things happened. And now, we’re writing the next chapter of history, and we have an opportunity to make the next part of history better than it used to be. I want to share that sense and that understanding. I want my students to have the sense that they are making history.

What is one thing you always remember when in a classroom?

It’s a wonderful opportunity for human beings to be together and think together, and we’re all bringing so much in, and it’s an opportunity for us to really be together and think together and learn from each other.

What is a community you are a part of that is important to you?

I am a member of the Moishe Kavod Jewish Social Justice House. It’s a community of young Jews who gather to celebrate religious holidays, make music and engage in justice work. It’s been a very important community to me.