Born in Oregon, social studies teacher Elise Brown attended Wellesley College and received a B.A. in political science and music. After supporting college students and substituting for the Boston Public Schools (BPS), Brown found their passion in establishing community within history classrooms. Before the 2023-24 school began, they taught at a summer school in Waltham, Mass. and performed for a local theater cooperative.
What has your journey in life been like leading up to teaching at the high school?
I grew up in Westland, Ore., which is a suburb of Portland and very similar socioeconomically and racially to Brookline. I was very fortunate to be in such an affluent community, as I took advantage of all the resources that my high school had to offer. I am a public school kid through and through. Or, I was [until 12th grade], and then I went to Wellesley College. That’s what brought me out to Massachusetts. I moved out here and got my bachelor’s in political science and music. I spent a few years figuring out what I wanted to do and worked in colleges supporting students. And then I realized the best way I can support students is by being a teacher and preparing them to be good community members.
What type of classroom environment do you aim to create?
I always ask a question of the day to get things started. I spend the first five or ten minutes of class going down the list of everybody [in the class]. On Mondays, it’s always, “What was a moment of joy from your weekend?” And then sometimes it’s silly questions like, “If you had a robot, what would you make it do first?” or “If you could have any pet, in a fictional universe where you can domesticate any animal, what kind of pet would you have?” [We have] those silly conversations so that students know that we’re going to work hard, but we’re also going to make sure [they] feel at ease and that everyone’s gotten a chance to have the floor a little bit. That’s most of my day: trying to build a community in my classroom where people feel safe enough that they can take the risks later.
What’s your favorite thing about teaching history?
My favorite thing about teaching history is the conversations I can have with students about how the big questions [people have asked] since the beginning of time are the same big questions we’re looking at now. Over time, the technology and the language we have has changed, but we are ultimately still asking ourselves questions like, “Who am I?”, “What is my place in the world?”, “Who has power and why?” and “How can we, as a community, look out for ourselves?” Seeing the nuance of the conversations that even the youngest students here are able to have is the most rewarding thing.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I’m part of a local theater cooperative. We put on open mics and puppet shows, and I’m in their band, which is a lot of fun. I play guitar, harmonica, ukulele and sometimes bass, but we have a full-time bassist now.
What kind of productions does your local theater host?
Our first big show earlier this year was a devised response to “Macbeth.” It was really neat, and I was mostly just part of the orchestra for that, playing bass. It was really cool to see that a lot of the scenes were improvised during rehearsals, and there was a giant puppet that was Macbeth. It was so fun. They’re very lighthearted. The way one of our founders phrased it is, “we take silliness very seriously.” It’s a great community to be a part of.
