By Conor Baron
Mrs. Assad is the long term substitute filling in for Mrs. Finn while she is away. Mrs. Assad is from Dublin, Ireland. She grew up there and got her education there as well. She has been a long-term substitute in Mashpee for many years. Before she worked in recruitment for administrators and also in accounting. She started with a business degree and background in corporate finance and online marketing. When she moved to America, she became a volunteer for the younger grade schools, until later coming to Mashpee High School. She is also a very proud mother of her two kids. I asked her a few more questions, just so the students can get to know her better.
Q: Why did you want to teach?
A: “So teaching wasn’t actually my background. When I went to college in Ireland, I got all my education in Ireland, I actually got a business degree. I worked in the corporate world for a number of years, before moving to America. When I first moved here, I actually started as volunteer here in Quashnet. And I taught a math enrichment program to fourth graders at the time. And I loved it. And it was at that point, volunteering at the school, that made me realize this is such a great place to be. I loved working with the students. And I kinda just pursued it from there.”
Mrs. Assad is the long term substitute filling in for Mrs. Finn while she is away. Mrs. Assad is from Dublin, Ireland. She grew up there and got her education there as well. She has been a long-term substitute in Mashpee for many years. Before she worked in recruitment for administrators and also in accounting. She started with a business degree and background in corporate finance and online marketing. When she moved to America, she became a volunteer for the younger grade schools, until later coming to Mashpee High School. She is also a very proud mother of her two kids. I asked her a few more questions, just so the students can get to know her better.
Q: Why did you want to teach?
A: “So teaching wasn’t actually my background. When I went to college in Ireland, I got all my education in Ireland, I actually got a business degree. I worked in the corporate world for a number of years, before moving to America. When I first moved here, I actually started as volunteer here in Quashnet. And I taught a math enrichment program to fourth graders at the time. And I loved it. And it was at that point, volunteering at the school, that made me realize this is such a great place to be. I loved working with the students. And I kinda just pursued it from there.”
Q: What made you want to teach English?
A: “That's a good question. I love books, I love to read, I love to write. And I always have since I was in high school. That was one of my favorite subjects. I love to connect English and classic literature, to current events and issues that happened. I think that that is a really important part to teaching English, and to get kids to make that connection, to see similar themes that were occurring when literature was wrote many years ago, to what's happening now with current affairs. So I think that it is a very important subject.”
Q: Do you have any favorite genre?
A: “Poetry is probably my favorite. I'm a big fan of poetry. I used to write a lot of it when I was younger. I used to love write poems. So that definitely my favorite. I love to analyze them, to kinda dissect them, and see what the poet was thinking.”
Q: What do you like about teaching?
A: “I think my favorite thing has to be, the relationships that you build with your students. Actually one of the most important things to me is to get to know the students that I’m in room with. Getting to know what their strengths area, getting to know what their challenges are, and see where I can help them. That’s definitely what I think is no better feeling than, helping someone else, achieve their goals.”
Q: Did you originally have a connection with Mrs. Finn when you came to Mashpee High School?
A: “I did. I knew Mrs. Finn from many years ago, when I first was a long term substitute, back before I had my kids. And it was at Mashpee High School. And I knew Mrs. Finn her when she was a special education teacher. So I knew her from many years ago, when she worked in the school, and I did too.”
Q: What are your goals for this year for your classes?
A: “So I think I have really big shoes to fill in covering for Mrs. Finn. I think she's clearly well loved by her students, and is a fantastic teacher. So my goal is to really make sure that I take care of her students, until she returns. Help them, where they need help. Continue on what's she's been doing and getting to the end of the year. My goal is to make sure every student succeeds, and whatever success that is for them, because you know success is different for different students. I just want to help them with that, and guide them along the way, and facilitate it for them.”
Q: How is the start to teaching Mrs. Finn’s classes going so far?
A: “It's going really well. I’m still kinda getting the gist, and you know, this friday will be my will be a full week, that I’ve been here. I'm still trying to get some students names. A lot of the seniors I already knew, but some of the ninth and tenth graders I didn’t. So it's kind of, ‘They’re getting to know me and I’m trying to get to know them’. But it's going really great. I'm loving the subjects we’re covering. We are doing To Kill a Mockingbird, in ninth grade, which is one of my favorite books ever. So to get to teach that is just so amazing. It's just fantastic. And we’re doing my favorite, which is poetry in tenth grade. And in twelfth grade, where are working on grammar and spelling, and we are going to do a collaborative project with another senior class.
I think that when you come into a class, you know half way through a year, you don’t want to change up to much and you wanna keep the flow going. So I’ve been trying to do that, but you know it's a lot of work behind the scenes for teachers definitely. The students have been awesome with having a new teacher. Everyone has been very receptive, they have been very open. I’ve spoke with each class before hand, as to what the expectations were, and I gave assurance that Mrs. Finn will be back, and I will be here until she’s ready to be back. And it's just been fun, and the students have been great. I think that they love Mrs. Finn and they are very understanding why she can't be here right now. And they have been very welcoming to a new teacher to cover for her while she’s gone.”
Q: Do you have any passions outside of school?
A: “Well, I do love to read. I also love to run and I like to run a lot. It's a great stress reliever. I like to listen to music so I put my headphones in, and I run, and I love that. I love spending time with my kids, my family. I love to go and travel to different places with them, to experience different things with them where we can. That would probably be my passions.”
Q: Do you have any pets, and or do you want any pets?
A: “I do, I have three dogs. I have a twelve year old German Shepherd, named Nessa. We have a ten year old Yellow Lab, and her name is Lola, and she is actually a retired K-9. Then we have Lola’s pup who three, and Her name is Lucy. She is part Yellow Lab, and part Dutch Shepherd. So we have our hands full with three dogs. It's a lot, but I wouldn’t change it. I love our dogs. When I was younger in Ireland, my uncles used to own horses. And I love horses. I’ve always seen them around, when I was in Ireland, they were always around. But I don’t think I'd want to own a horse right now because it is a lot of responsibility and very expensive. So I think with three dogs Your hands are full. My daughter really wants a Guinea Pig. She really really wants a Guinea Pig, but I’ll wait until she's old enough to take care of it herself.”