teachers_2011

=District Teachers 2011-2012=


 * Historian Evaluation Template (2011) [[file:HistorianEvaluationTemplate_2011.pdf]]**

BRAINTREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
**Luke Dedeus** > South Middle

I am a 6th Grade Ancient Civilizations teacher at South Middle School and earned my bachelors' degree from Boston University and my M.A.T. from Simmons College. I enjoy studying and reading about a wide range of historical topics on my own time and tying what I learn into what I teach to help explain to my students how the present has been shaped by past events. As an educator, my goal is always to promote ideas of responsible citizenship by first developing a strong sense of history amongst my students.

**Rebecca Drayer **> South Middle I am originally from Maryland where I attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County for my bachelors and Towson University for my masters. For the last five years, I have been teaching at South Middle School. I teach 7th grade world geography and cultures and 8th grade American history. I very much enjoy explaining to students how our present day societal issues are connected to past events. And therefore, I love to study history to have a better understanding of our modern day world. I am also involved in the community service club.

**Joanna Newton **>Hollis Elementary I am a fifth grade teacher at the Hollis Elementary School in Braintree. I teach social studies, reading and ELA. Lesley College is where I earned my bachelor’s degree with certifications in Elementary Education and Moderate Special Needs. I obtained my reading license after earning my master’s degree from Eastern Nazarene College. I enjoy teaching history and am looking forward to using more primary sources with my students.

I am a 7th grade ELA teacher at South Middle School, where I have been teaching for the last 11 years. I am an Ed. D. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at Boston University, where I also earned a M.A.T. in Secondary Education--English in 1999. I also earned a second master's degree in Organizational Management in 2005. So, I am very cognizant of the importance of being a student, while also being a teacher. I have long been a proponent of a humanities approach to ELA and Social Studies at the middle and high school levels, and hope to instill my students with an appreciation of the historical background of the many novels we read and also help ground our studies of current events and issues with historical roots that have helped shape our nation and selves.
 * Jean Witt** > South Middle

**CHELSEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS**
Inmaculada Peters > Kelly School I am a third grade teacher in the Caminos Program at the Kelly School in Chelsea, MA. I attended Lesley College completing my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, and Simmons College where I received my Master's Degree in Urban Education. Besides my certification in Elementary Education, I am also certified in Spanish K-12. I was born and raised in Seville, Spain and moved to Malden, Mass twenty-five years ago. Both of my daughters have attended Malden Public Schools and we have formed some important ties and relationships in this community. My family and I have many hobbies such as traveling, fishing, cooking, and reading. We also love soccer, football, basketball, and baseball. Being a part of the Becoming America was a wonderful experience and I am truly looking forward to Year 3.

I am a third grade teacher at the Berkowitz School in Chelsea, MA. I have been teaching third grade in Chelsea for three years, and before that I taught in Cambridge for two years. I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics from Fairfield University. I then attended Lesley University and earned a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. I joined this project to find new and exciting ways to incorporate primary sources into my lessons. I find that Social Studies is one of those times in our busy schedule that we have some freedom to do fun and exciting things with our students. I am looking forward to learning ways to do this!
 * [[image:becomingamerica/headshot_jpowers_11.jpg align="left" link="tlp_11_jpowers"]]Jennifer Powers** > Berkowitz School

** Jessica Travaline ** > Berkowitz School I am a third grade teacher at the William A. Berkowitz School in Chelsea, Massachusetts and I teach all subjects in my classroom. I have taught at the Berkowitz School for three years. Previously, I taught fourth grade for two years in Danville, Virginia and also taught all subjects in the classroom. I am originially from Pennsylvania and I have a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 2005. I am currently working on my master's degree in elementary education. I joined this project because in my classroom we have a short amount of time to teach Social Studies lessons and I think that being a part of this project will help me develop interesting and rich lessons that engage the students that I can integrate into other parts of the curriculum.

**EVERETT PUBLIC SCHOOLS**
__**LDiSalvatore Teacher Page**__ > Lafayette School My education includes a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) in Library Media Studies from Salem State College in 2008 and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems from Suffolk University in 1986. I also hold an Associates Degree in Business Administration and Computer Programming from Bunker Hill Community College. I love the Library and I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to teach in Everett Public Schools the last 4 years. Before teaching at the Lafayette School in Everett, I worked on my Masters Degree while working as Reference Librarian and Technical Liason at the Haverhill Public Library. Prior to my career change, I held positions for over 15 years in Corporate Information Technology Departments for many different companies in and around Boston, as well as, teaching adjunct evening and summer programs at Bunker Hill Community College for their Business and Computer Associates Degree Program. This will be my third year as a participant in the Teaching American History program, and I look forward to learning, researching and teaching students exciting new ways to use primary sources in their classesand studies..

I am a History teacher at Everett High School, and am an Assistant Coach for the Indoor and Outdoor Tack teams. Prior to joining Everett Schools, I practiced law in Boston for fifteen years, most of that as in-house counsel to a large real estate company. I was part of Boston University's adjunct faculty and taught Real Estate Law to evening students in the Metropolitan College from 2000-2003. My undergraduate degree in History and Political Science is from Mount Holyoke College, and I obtained my Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School.
 * [[image:becomingamerica/headshot_hmartin_10.jpg align="left"]]Helen Martin** -- Everett High School

I have been working in the Everett Public Schools since August 2009. I am the School Librarian at the Sumner G. Whittier and Webster Schools. For the past 12 years, I have worked in the public library system at the Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, MA, the Lynnfield Public Library, and the Parlin Memorial Library , Everett, MA. During this time period, I served as a Youth Services Librarian. For the last five years I served as Assistant Library Director in Everett. Prior to becoming a librarian, I spent 12 years in the classroom. I taught First Grade at Our Lady of Grace School In Everett. My degrees include a Masters of Library Science from Simmons College, Boston, Ma; a Masters in Education from Salem State College; and a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Emmanuel College, Boston, MA. This is my second year participating in the program. Once again I look forward to being part of the project.. I am hoping to incorporate more strategies to use in my classroom.
 * [[image:becomingamerica/headshot_mpuleo_10.jpg align="left"]]Mary Puleo** > Whittier School

**MALDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS**
**Larry Higgins** > Salemwood School I am the eighth grade social studies teacher at the Salemwood Middle School in Malden, Massachusetts. Prior to pursuing a career in education, I practiced law for seventeen years focusing my practice on labor and employment law, litigation, and real estate law. I earned my undergraduate degree in political science from Suffolk University and my Juris Doctor from New England School of Law. This is my first year in the program. I look forward to developing a bank of resources from which I can find relevant and challenging primary sources to incorporate into my lessons.

__Barbara Kennedy__ > Beebe School I am a K- 8 grade library teacher at the Beebe School who enjoys engaging students in meaningful, collaborative projects that build critical thinking skills. I received my Masters in Education/Library Media Studies from Salem State College. I have always enjoyed history because of what it tells us about our society and ourselves through stories and hope to bring that perspective, to my students. The Discovering America program will help me show them how to use unfiltered sources to make sense of the past by being able to relate it to themselves and the present. One of my goals is to show them the power in that.

Mary Liberge > Ferryway School I am a library media teacher at the Ferryway School receiving my Masters in Education/Library Science from Salem State University. I have been with this school for seven years and enjoy working with the K-8 students. The Ferryway School has a very diverse population. I am excited to share and present to my students all of my knowledge that I will have gained from the Becoming America project on how to conduct research using primary sources and to co-teach or collaborate with my teachers on the topic of immigration.

I am a fourth grade teacher at the Forestdale who enjoys teaching all subjects. I have received an Associates Degree in Communications, a B.A. in American Studies, and my Masters in Elementary Education from Lesley University. I am very excited about participating in the Becoming America project for a second year. I hope to ignite a passion for social studies in my students and share my own enthusiasm for learning about immigration with my colleagues.
 * [[image:becomingamerica/tlp_11_csynan_headshot.jpg align="left" link="tlp_11_csynan"]]Colleen Synan** > Forestdale School

**MEDFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS**
**Matt Brophy** > Medford High School I have been teaching in Medford for the past nine years. In my time at Medford I have had the privilege of teaching World History II standard, Honors and Advanced Placement European History. I received my B.S. degree in Political Science from Bridgewater State College, and I earned my M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Salem State College. I have always been interested in history as long as I can remember reading about historical events and asking my parents and teachers about the events of the past. Growing up in the Boston area exposed me to the history of our region and increased my interest and love of history. Therefore, teaching history allows me to pass on my passion for the subject to my students. I am hoping my participation in //Voices Rising// will allow me to learn new material that will continue to improve the quality of the classes I teach.

**Deborah Corleto** > McGlynn Middle School I teach art in Medford at the McGlynn Middle School. I have been teaching for 30 years. I earned a bachelor’s degree from Salem State College in education/art and a master’s degree from Lesley University in education/creative arts. Since 1994, I have been an active participant in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C; and MASSART, in Boston, in teacher institutes on various periods of art history. I have attended institutes on impressionism, early American art, art in the industrial age, modern art and Dutch and Flemish art as well as one on art and architecture in the U.S. during the industrial period. Each of these institutes provided a greater understanding of the historical period studied through the lens of art. Since attending these institutes, I’ve included a lot of art history and history in my curriculum. After all, you can’t have art history without knowing the history of the world at the same time. I am always looking for new sources of information for the historical part of the art lessons. At present, I am a member of the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Art Educators Association. I am also one of the co-founders of the International Student Art Exchange, “a world united through art”, which will be holding its 13th exhibition in October 2008 in Thailand.

**Kevin Cullen** > Medford High School I have been teaching World History II standard and honors at Medford High School for the past four years. I attended Loyola College in Maryland and received my M.Ed from Salem State College. I have always been interested in history, and I decided to become a history teacher to help show students why history matters and why it is important to our world today. I hope that participating in Becoming America will enable me to find a variety of new and exciting ways to share history with my students while expanding upon my use of primary source materials in my lessons and activities.

**Maria D'Orsi** > Librarian, Medford High School This is my first year as a high school librarian, after 15 years at the elementary and middle school level. Teaching high school students requires more preparation and a deep and thorough knowledge of the subject area but TRITEC/Becoming America more than adequately prepares teachers for this challenge. Since Medford has 47 languages spoken in our schools, immigration is a topic of interest for our students and using primary sources makes it not only more interesting but also more connected to the mission of the school library. I hope to collaborate with classroom teachers in creating a multudiscipinary lesson that also encourages students to use our primary source partners and national historic sites in doing their own research.


 * Ashley Yoerger** > Medford High School

MYSTIC VALLEY REGIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL
**Matt Stone**

I teach Middle School History at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School. I completed my B.A. at Hillsdale College in Michigan focusing on American Religious History and Civil War history. I look forward to participating in the grant this year because of my interest in America's continuously developing identity. In my free time I enjoy sports, reading, and talking about history.

url}?f=print|print this page I am a History teacher at Everett High School, and am an Assistant Coach for the Indoor and Outdoor Tack teams. Prior to joining Everett Schools, I practiced law in Boston for fifteen years, most of that as in-house counsel to a large real estate company.