New Teacher Features 2019

Thomas Mylchreest is an economics teacher at the high school. He grew up in England and has taught for five years in Manchester. He has experience working with children in foster care programs. After high school, he visited Australia, Greece, Germany, France, and Monaco, but listed Boston as his favorite city. Additionally, Mylchreest would like to visit India when he turns thirty due to the cultural...

School psychologist Christen Fanelli grew up in Westchester County, New York, and currently lives in Salem, Massachusetts. She loves to go on hikes, swims, and runs with her dog. She is excited to be a help to the students of the high school, and her favorite part of the school is walking through the quad and getting a breath of fresh air. What inspired you to become a school psychologist? I was a teacher in...

When you were younger did you always want to become a teacher? Especially a math teacher? Yes. I did know pretty early on that I wanted to become a math teacher. My first real job when I was fourteen was as an educator at an aquarium. From then on I kind of knew that I wanted to go into the educational field. Can you tell me about a teaching experience that stood out to you? I think I'll ...

Alyssa Murphy is the business teacher in the career and technology department at Brookline High School. She grew up in Norwell, Massachusetts, which is a small town on the South Shore, just 45 minutes out of Boston. Some of her hobbies include skiing, reading, and relaxing with her labradoodle named Larry. What’s your favorite season? I guess this is cliche as a New Englander but I love Fall....

Originally from Long Island, Lindsay Asselin attended the State University of New York and then went to get her masters in special ed at Syracuse. Over the summer she worked at Fenway Park and spent a lot of time on Cape Cod. She is also training for a half marathon. What made you want to become a special ed teacher? Originally I did not want to be a special ed teacher. My focus was math, and th...

After working in graphic design, at a Newton day school, a Norwood clinic and Boston College, Deborah Miller is bringing her talents to Brookline High School’s BRYT program. Originally from New Jersey, Miller has lived in the Boston area for 25 years and majored in photography at Boston College. She enjoys Wes Anderson movies and walking her dog in Coolidge Corner. Do you enjoy the environment at BHS ...

Dan Nudel was born in New Haven, Conn. where he grew up with three other siblings and went to Amity High School. After graduating from Prescott College in Prescott, Ariz., he became a therapist at the Brookline Center and now lives in Roslindale with his dog. He also enjoys spending time outdoors and taking walks. Here at the high school, Mr. Nudel is a Clinical Coordinator for BRYT (Bridge for Resilient...

Talmadge Nardi is a Zumba lover, mother of two, world traveller, and now an English teacher at the high school. She’s kicking off her fourteenth year of teaching after having previously taught at the Francis Parker Charter School in Devens Massachusetts, the Academy of the Pacific Rim in Hyde Park, and also the Brooke High School in Mattapan. What made you want to teach English? I had a really awe...

Hailing from Osaka, Japan, Japanese teacher Reiko Asahina is excited to join the Brookline High School community She studied teaching and English literature at Osaka Prefecture College, and ended up teaching Japanese to people of all ages. When not teaching, she enjoys jogging, swimming, and watching movies. What made you want to teach Japanese at a high school? I love teaching and I like teach...

Originally from Bethesda, Md., Shawn Rock only recently found his love for chemistry when he went back to school to get a degree in chemistry. When he is not teaching, he likes playing guitar, biking, sailing and skiing. He also enjoys the show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” which brings together his mutual love for jokes and old cars. Where did you work before coming to Brookline High Sc...

After student teaching in Wakefield, Mass., math teacher Ian Morris has joined Brookline high school for his second full year of teaching. Morris grew up in Maine and participated in many activities as a student, such as cross-country and hockey, as well as an outdoors club and a slam poetry club. Once Morris was able to drive and fly independently, he discovered a passion for travelling, which he...

Karim Azeb was born in Egypt and grew up in Brooklyn, NY as an avid sports fan. He began teaching lower level students after graduating from UMass Amherst, and is now a social studies teacher at the high school. This summer Azeb got married and spent his honeymoon in Turks and Caicos. What got you into teaching? Oh man, so actually I never wanted to be a teacher. In college I was pre-law. I t...

Linda Chiu was born and educated in Taiwan. She came to America for her advanced studies, and received a masters degree in linguistic studies and instructional design from Syracuse University in New York. After that, she went back to Taiwan for a few years, and came to Boston in 2011. A few of Ms. Chiu’s hobbies are reading spiritual books, meditating while riding on the MBTA, watching movies, a...

Math teacher Áron Boros grew up in Rochester, New York and attended Amherst College in Western Massachusetts. He has always enjoyed math, and he rides his bike to the high school each morning. He has two kids and is planning on taking a big trip to different national parks all around the country next summer.  What do you like to do in your free time? I like to read. A lot of my reading is about social...

Jason Heitler-Klevans grew up in Cheltenham, Pa.  Heitler-Klevans then moved to Ohio to attend Oberlin College. At college, he met his current fiance and is expected to get married later this year. Last year, Heitler-Klevans worked at Somerville High School as a physics and chemistry teacher part-time while in graduate school. When Heitler-Klevans is not helping students or advising the game club at th...

Raised in Dorchester and still living there, Associate Dean Marisel Figueroa-Marrero has been invested in the Boston area for her whole life. She went to Boston Latin School and loves to read in her spare time. Now a hockey mom, Figueroa-Marrero enjoys spending time with her two kids. What was your favorite subject in high school and why? I have an inclination towards humanities: English, language arts and hi...