Brita Dempsey '00

I didn't head into teaching the usual way. I sort of tripped over the realization that I wanted to
torture high school students at the beginning of my senior year. It was a little late then to get
an education major, and I was advised that it didn't matter anyway since in order to teach high
school you need a BA in whatever subject you're teaching (or in some districts just a vague
recollection from your own high school experience... but we can pretend that doesn't happen
too often...). I figured I could get most of the education stuff in grad school. Only thing was I
was tired of being taught and I started reading about the major teacher shortages that are
going on all over the US, particularly in under-resourced areas like urban centers and rural
districts. That's when I met Teach For America. Gosh, it's nifty! They pull the best and
brightest students (or so they tell us) right out from under our graduation robes, send us to
boot camp in Houston for 5 weeks before shipping out to the worst school districts in 15 areas
of the nation. Once there, the site directors find school placements and we set up camp and
try very hard to make someone's life a little better in two short years. I moved out of Morris
House into a tiny house in Lula, Mississippi population 250, a mere 25 minutes south of Tunica,
the Las Vegas of the southeast and home of Rosa Fort High School. You'd think the casino
money would be helping, but chaos reigns most days and maintaining a calm classroom is
always an adventure. The kids in my Biology I and II classes are amazing. I love them.

They make me tear my hair out. I have never had so much direct feedback on my work, nor
had so much fun in my whole life. You want instant gratification, try to plan a decent lesson.
You will know if you succeeded.

Classes I should have taken at Smith: Anatomy. 9th graders could care less about plants.
More Ed classes like Assessment, Classroom management/organization, Integrating
technology in the classroom.

Recommendations: Get as much practical knowledge as possible. GO OBSERVE REAL
TEACHERS. Find out how they grade stuff. If you learn anything, let me know... :) Get familiar
with Ed websites like Access Excellence, Lessonplanz, etc. because you don't need to reinvent
the wheel on your photosynthesis lesson. Someone else has already figured it out and it's
much easier to modify an existing plan then start from scratch. Lastly, join NSTA and your
state science teacher association: they have oodles of goodies and conferences are fun and
provide mountains of information.

The kids need you. Now. I hope to go to grad school someday and use my classroom
experience to supplement what I learn there. But it can wait a little bit. I have tons of energy
and am not tied down by traditional teaching mantras so anything goes and the kids seem to
have fun. Some days, at any rate. Mostly they'd tell you we work too much. But if you ask
them if they felt better after taking the state test in algebra I or in biology, I can just about
guarantee they'd laugh and say bio was easy! Gotta love it. :)

Have questions for Brita? Contact her at:

britad@wildmail.com

Amy Todd '97

In March of 1997, a few months before I would graduate with a degree in Biology, I began to look for a teaching position in a private secondary school. I interviewed with an education consultant who matches prospective teachers and schools with open positions. Inquiries from schools started arriving in mid-April, and in May I accepted a job at a small Connecticut boarding school. The school provided me room and board and a decent salary. I taught General Biology, Advanced Placement Biology, and electives such as Genetics, Marine Biology, and Animal Behavior. Although well prepared in my discipline, accurately assessing student performance was difficult. An education course in student evaluation would have been helpful.

After I began, I quickly learned boarding schools were more of a life choice then a career choice. Teaching became my profession, but was only a portion of my job. In addition to classes, I was a full-time dorm parent, athletic coach, and academic advisor. All these roles required vast amounts of positive energy and a commitment to the community as a whole. What I gave of myself was repaid by the positive impact I had on my students and an excellent quality of life provided by people with whom I lived and worked. In this career, expect to work hard, expect to give extra help to your students after dinner, and expect to spend your free Saturday afternoon watching a home basketball game.

I spent three great years at my school, and left in the spring of 2000 to pursue a Masters degree in Wildlife Biology. It was a rewarding experience, and one that I would consider again upon completion of my degree. My advice for those considering this lifestyle is to be prepared for the commitment a boarding school requires, look for a strong and healthy school community, and find a school that meshes well with your academic and extracurricular strengths.