By Stella Bold
Q: A simple question to start off with: How are you liking Mashpee Middle-High School so far?
A: It’s been great, so far everyone has been very welcoming, and it’s local, the commute is not bad at all. Mr. Brodie has been incredibly welcoming and very supportive of everything that I’ve done, along with Mr. Valentine and Ms. Reynolds. The kids have been great, I haven’t been disrespected, and everyone’s been treating me with the utmost respect. I only have a couple more weeks but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far.
Q: Did you grow up in this area or elsewhere?
A: I did not grow up on the Cape, but I did grow up in Massachusetts. I grew up in Andover, which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Boston, kind of near the New Hampshire border. I lived in the same house all 18 years.
Q: A simple question to start off with: How are you liking Mashpee Middle-High School so far?
A: It’s been great, so far everyone has been very welcoming, and it’s local, the commute is not bad at all. Mr. Brodie has been incredibly welcoming and very supportive of everything that I’ve done, along with Mr. Valentine and Ms. Reynolds. The kids have been great, I haven’t been disrespected, and everyone’s been treating me with the utmost respect. I only have a couple more weeks but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far.
Q: Did you grow up in this area or elsewhere?
A: I did not grow up on the Cape, but I did grow up in Massachusetts. I grew up in Andover, which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Boston, kind of near the New Hampshire border. I lived in the same house all 18 years.
Q: I understand you’ve taught and worked with a range of ages in regards to students, in your experience what age is most enjoyable to teach?
A: [He laughs] I see you went on my LinkedIn page… They all have their advantages, you know the younger kids, sixth, seventh, eighth grade, they’re full of energy, it’s just a matter of how you harness it. Freshmen and Sophomore they’re still trying to find their voice and you can really be instrumental in helping them find their voice. And then in Juniors and Seniors they’re very opinionated and they have more direction on what they want to do, and once again it’s kind of providing them the resources and the additional help to push them in that direction. I like all of them, they all have their upsides.
Q: Which is more rewarding to teach? Or is it kind of the same answer?
A: They’re all rewarding it’s just a matter of the class. Certain classes respond better to you than others and it doesn’t matter what age they are, sometimes it’s the subject, sometimes it’s just the chemistry you have with a certain teacher, but I haven’t had a poor experience with any of the grades.
Q: Do you focus mainly on History classes?
A: I would like to do Social Studies as a whole; then Government. I love Foreign Policy in general, and I think Anthropology and Sociology are very interesting too. Like Ms. Reynolds I also enjoy Geography, like maps and mapping, but usually the term History has a lot of things jumbled into it, I tend to like the term Social Studies better because of that. It’s not just History, you know when you’re taking US or Pre-AP you’re doing Sociology, the study of what people think and of what people do, you’re taking Government, you’re taking Geography, so it’s all mashed together.
Q: When did you realize you were passionate about Social Studies?
A: I would say Sophomore year of highschool, and that’s kind of when I knew I wanted to be a teacher as well. That previous summer, the summer going into Sophomore year, I worked at a day camp that I had previously been a camper at, and really enjoyed working with kids, so I said “Hey teaching, I think, would be really cool,” and then that following school year I had two teachers, one English teacher, Ms. Parsons and a US II History teacher, Mr. McCarthy who really inspired me to be a teacher in general Social Studies and then the following year, my Junior year, I had one of my favorite teachers Mr. Carey who did current events, that also inspired me to become a teacher. Between those three I would say they inspired me to go into the Arts, Humanities, History, and Social Studies aspect rather than Math or Science.
Q: Were you thinking about either one of those (Math or Science)?
A: Not really, I’m not good with numbers so I kind of did process of elimination. With writing and History in general there isn’t one answer, you could pretty much argue your way out of something which is great, whereas with Math there is a definitive answer.
Q: Mr. Brodie is your supervising teacher, and you are student teaching for Northeastern University..?
A: Correct, so I am graduating with my Masters of Arts in teaching in May, I graduated with my undergraduate degree, so I have a Bachelors of Arts and Education from Arizona State University, where I graduated in 2015.
Q: How do you two get along, Mr. Brodie and you?
A: We have been told we match, and we have often said similar quotes… [He laughs] He’s been wonderful to work under.
Q: Have you made any other acquaintances during your time here?
A: Obviously all of the History teachers, hence the department. I have also gotten to know Mrs. Hough a little bit, I’m trying to do a project with her for my World History kids. Mrs. Brodie, and some of the Math teachers I have lunch with.
Q: This is kind of different from the topic of acquaintances, but of your college experiences, both at Northeastern University and Arizona State University, what have you been able to take away from them?
A: You have to seek out opportunity. And the beautiful thing about University that High Schools don’t have, is they have a plethora of opportunity. It’s just a matter of you seeking it out, so for example every school for the most part has a study abroad program, but it is up to the individual student to do that. I took on that opportunity, I studied abroad in London in 2013, and it was life-changing. Similar with internships and jobs those are opportunities that are there regardless of where you go to college and regardless of what you want to do with your life, but it’s a matter of “Do you have the individual motivation?”
Q: Do you have any advice for seniors who might be looking into colleges?
A: See the previous question, that would be one. I would also say try as many new things as possible. And that’s a wide spectrum, and a broad statement, but I mean meet new people, try new clubs, try new foods, travel, because I think when you do all those new things and you meet new people you have a better sense of empathy. You might not necessarily agree with it, you might not necessarily like everything that they do, but you can at least understand where people are coming from, and I think empathy is something society needs more of. And like I said you don’t need to necessarily agree with them, but you can at least say “Hey, you like your thing, I like my thing, we’ll go our separate ways, but I can understand why you might like your thing.”
Q: Did you travel and meet new people? I know you said you studied abroad, but in college did you do those things yourself?
A: I love traveling, which is probably the reason I want to go so far in the first place. We would do trips to California pretty regularly, and I’ve done road trips from Phoenix to Sacramento, Phoenix to L.A., San Francisco to L.A., San Diego to Phoenix, Seattle to Vancouver, Seattle to Portland, and Phoenix to Boston. And then when I studied abroad I went to nine different counties, and once again you get to meet new people, you try new foods, you see the landmarks, you learn new histories, and it inspires you to continue to do things and try new things in general, it keeps you motivated and hungry to keep learning.
Q: This is the last one, I had to bring it up, what is your favorite hot sauce brand and why?
A: I know this isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but it depends on the food. If I’m having Asian food I’ll go with Sriracha, if I’m going with a Hispanic style food I’m a Tapatio or Cholula guy, but those are my top three. But once again I’m always wanting to try something new.
A: [He laughs] I see you went on my LinkedIn page… They all have their advantages, you know the younger kids, sixth, seventh, eighth grade, they’re full of energy, it’s just a matter of how you harness it. Freshmen and Sophomore they’re still trying to find their voice and you can really be instrumental in helping them find their voice. And then in Juniors and Seniors they’re very opinionated and they have more direction on what they want to do, and once again it’s kind of providing them the resources and the additional help to push them in that direction. I like all of them, they all have their upsides.
Q: Which is more rewarding to teach? Or is it kind of the same answer?
A: They’re all rewarding it’s just a matter of the class. Certain classes respond better to you than others and it doesn’t matter what age they are, sometimes it’s the subject, sometimes it’s just the chemistry you have with a certain teacher, but I haven’t had a poor experience with any of the grades.
Q: Do you focus mainly on History classes?
A: I would like to do Social Studies as a whole; then Government. I love Foreign Policy in general, and I think Anthropology and Sociology are very interesting too. Like Ms. Reynolds I also enjoy Geography, like maps and mapping, but usually the term History has a lot of things jumbled into it, I tend to like the term Social Studies better because of that. It’s not just History, you know when you’re taking US or Pre-AP you’re doing Sociology, the study of what people think and of what people do, you’re taking Government, you’re taking Geography, so it’s all mashed together.
Q: When did you realize you were passionate about Social Studies?
A: I would say Sophomore year of highschool, and that’s kind of when I knew I wanted to be a teacher as well. That previous summer, the summer going into Sophomore year, I worked at a day camp that I had previously been a camper at, and really enjoyed working with kids, so I said “Hey teaching, I think, would be really cool,” and then that following school year I had two teachers, one English teacher, Ms. Parsons and a US II History teacher, Mr. McCarthy who really inspired me to be a teacher in general Social Studies and then the following year, my Junior year, I had one of my favorite teachers Mr. Carey who did current events, that also inspired me to become a teacher. Between those three I would say they inspired me to go into the Arts, Humanities, History, and Social Studies aspect rather than Math or Science.
Q: Were you thinking about either one of those (Math or Science)?
A: Not really, I’m not good with numbers so I kind of did process of elimination. With writing and History in general there isn’t one answer, you could pretty much argue your way out of something which is great, whereas with Math there is a definitive answer.
Q: Mr. Brodie is your supervising teacher, and you are student teaching for Northeastern University..?
A: Correct, so I am graduating with my Masters of Arts in teaching in May, I graduated with my undergraduate degree, so I have a Bachelors of Arts and Education from Arizona State University, where I graduated in 2015.
Q: How do you two get along, Mr. Brodie and you?
A: We have been told we match, and we have often said similar quotes… [He laughs] He’s been wonderful to work under.
Q: Have you made any other acquaintances during your time here?
A: Obviously all of the History teachers, hence the department. I have also gotten to know Mrs. Hough a little bit, I’m trying to do a project with her for my World History kids. Mrs. Brodie, and some of the Math teachers I have lunch with.
Q: This is kind of different from the topic of acquaintances, but of your college experiences, both at Northeastern University and Arizona State University, what have you been able to take away from them?
A: You have to seek out opportunity. And the beautiful thing about University that High Schools don’t have, is they have a plethora of opportunity. It’s just a matter of you seeking it out, so for example every school for the most part has a study abroad program, but it is up to the individual student to do that. I took on that opportunity, I studied abroad in London in 2013, and it was life-changing. Similar with internships and jobs those are opportunities that are there regardless of where you go to college and regardless of what you want to do with your life, but it’s a matter of “Do you have the individual motivation?”
Q: Do you have any advice for seniors who might be looking into colleges?
A: See the previous question, that would be one. I would also say try as many new things as possible. And that’s a wide spectrum, and a broad statement, but I mean meet new people, try new clubs, try new foods, travel, because I think when you do all those new things and you meet new people you have a better sense of empathy. You might not necessarily agree with it, you might not necessarily like everything that they do, but you can at least understand where people are coming from, and I think empathy is something society needs more of. And like I said you don’t need to necessarily agree with them, but you can at least say “Hey, you like your thing, I like my thing, we’ll go our separate ways, but I can understand why you might like your thing.”
Q: Did you travel and meet new people? I know you said you studied abroad, but in college did you do those things yourself?
A: I love traveling, which is probably the reason I want to go so far in the first place. We would do trips to California pretty regularly, and I’ve done road trips from Phoenix to Sacramento, Phoenix to L.A., San Francisco to L.A., San Diego to Phoenix, Seattle to Vancouver, Seattle to Portland, and Phoenix to Boston. And then when I studied abroad I went to nine different counties, and once again you get to meet new people, you try new foods, you see the landmarks, you learn new histories, and it inspires you to continue to do things and try new things in general, it keeps you motivated and hungry to keep learning.
Q: This is the last one, I had to bring it up, what is your favorite hot sauce brand and why?
A: I know this isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but it depends on the food. If I’m having Asian food I’ll go with Sriracha, if I’m going with a Hispanic style food I’m a Tapatio or Cholula guy, but those are my top three. But once again I’m always wanting to try something new.