Throughout the four years of high school at the school, many teachers and staff have made a positive impact on students and have shaped them into the people they have become. Many students explained that their teachers gave them unwavering support, safe environments and sparked new interests for their classes.
One impactful teacher is Mrs. Mackenzie Fusco, who influenced senior Zachary Capps in International Baccalaureate (IB) anthropology. Fusco teaches social studies classes throughout grades nine through ten and is renowned for her welcoming environment. Capps highlighted how she helped him throughout the course with the material and the internal assessment in her class.
“I really enjoyed the class [and] I learned a lot from it,” Capps said. “I didn’t really expect to gain much from taking it but she made me enjoy the subject a lot.”
Celia Anbinder, another senior at the school, stated that Mrs. Sara Fiorini impacted her the most after taking her class freshman year. Anbinder explained that Fiorini has an extremely positive attitude and environment, which aided her in her first year of high school.
“I had her class in the morning so it was not fun to wake up and have to go to Physical Education, but she just made it really fun and exciting every day,” Anbinder said. “She helped me create a good routine throughout school and made it easier to integrate into a new environment.”
Another impactful teacher at the school is Mr. Philip Krauth. Senior Rowan Blackwell, who took Krauth’s IB philosophy class, explained that in his junior year he enjoyed the class because Krauth was so passionate about the subject. Blackwell explained that the class helped him greatly with debate preparations and statements.
“I feel like you get that [passion] with most IB teachers, but it really stood out to me with him,” Blackwell said. “He genuinely seems so excited every day to teach us about new material and hear our opinions on what he teaches.”
Blackwell noted that he really enjoyed the debates in the class and some of his favorite memories with Krauth come from these discussions.
“He did a debate on imperfect societies, [forms of government], which I thought was really interesting,” Blackwell said. “He would stay with me after class a lot to work on my statements for the debate and he always just seemed really interested to hear what I had to say.”
Senior Ukani Altansukh explained that Mrs. Teonta Aviles, an art teacher who teaches Ceramics I and Studio Art throughout all grade levels is one of her favorite teachers. Altansukh described her as a very caring and inspiring teacher, pushing her to explore but also take care of herself.
“I think [my most memorable moment] was when I was going through a hard time, she pulled me aside to make sure I was okay and then she made sure she let me know that I can take a break and have time to myself if I wanted to,” Altansukh said.
Senior Denisha Jones additionally noted that though they are not a teacher, security guard Ms. Kay was an extremely supportive and wise aide in her time at the school. Kay has been at the school for three years and continues to support and mentor students throughout all grades with helpful non-school organized advice.
“She has taught me how to be open with my emotions and ok with expressing them,” Jones said. “[She also helped me with] being honest with who I am and the mistakes that I make.”
Kay aided Jones in tough times and gave unconditional support and wisdom.
“It’s very pure advice and they don’t lecture, they try to teach me life lessons, definitely taught me how to be an adult,” Jones said.
As a whole, the staff and teachers at the school put in a lot of effort to add value to each student’s learning experience.
“[Ms. Kay taught] me to not let my past define who I can be in the future,” Jones said.
