They Wrote the Book

A Family Tradition

Guided By Imagination

Math Made Magic

Exciting Young Minds

Big Ideas for Little Minds

The Force Is With Her

Talented in Any Language

An Artistic Approach to Learning

A Song in the Classroom

Teacher’s Push to Succeed

The Language of Learning

Active Classroom, Engaged Minds

Vision for a Classroom

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By Mary Stachyra

In her seventh year as a teacher, Danielle DeSimone took a job doing what most educators only dream about: creating an entire curriculum from scratch. The experience, she said, was an opportunity for both her and the students to “create, not just regurgitate.”

Danielle DeSimone said that designing a new curriculum was like going back to school herself.

The Speyer Legacy School, a K-8 program for advanced learners that opened in September 2009, tasked DeSimone with designing a curriculum for its students’ accelerated pace. DeSimone’s 1st- and 2nd-grade students, taught in the same class, now learn about a different period in New York history every month. To reinforce the lesson, which reflects the larger American experience, the 11 students then work on a major project, like building the Guggenheim out of marshmallows or splattering paint on canvases after learning about Jackson Pollock. Families are invited into the school to view the projects. The class then takes a field trip somewhere in the city that coordinates with the lesson. Last month, they went to a tenement museum on the Lower East Side to get a feel for what the area was like in the early 20th century.

Sharon Roth, whose son is in DeSimone’s class, said that he “charges” into class and leaves “skipping and singing.” What’s more, when he’s sick, he emails the class to find out what he missed.

It might come as a surprise to some parents that DeSimone, 33, didn’t always see her future in teaching. As an undergraduate at Columbia University, the Long Island native majored in sociology and political science, hoping to become a lawyer. After completing an internship in the field, however, she realized law “wasn’t as interesting as I thought.” DeSimone went back to school and obtained a master’s degree in special education from Fordham University. Last year, she stepped away from a position as a kindergarten teacher at P.S. 163 to join the start-up school. The opportunity to help design a curriculum for highly advanced learners was too tempting to resist.

“Because this is a gifted and talented school, I’m able to cover very mature, challenging content that is typically not a possibility,” DeSimone said. “And [the students] do so much with it. They’re avid readers: they can read on a 5th-grade, 6th-grade level.”

What’s more, the curriculum challenges her.

“The entire year required me to do research and learn about the history of New York,” she said. “So in a way I’ve become a student again myself.”

DeSimone, whose grandmother emigrated from France, doesn’t limit her sights to New York. She’s a passionate traveler who spends every summer in Nantucket, has traveled to London and Paris and wants to go to Japan next. Even her curricular aspirations involve travel abroad.

“There’s an orphanage in Kenya that the school is affiliated with,” she said. “My dream would be to go on a school trip there, and build a new green building.”

–
Danielle DeSimone
1st and 2nd grade, Speyer Legacy School

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By Shannon Geis

It was Sarah Goldberg’s 9th-grade history class that confirmed what she already knew: teaching was the career for her.

“She just brought history to life,” Goldberg said of her high school teacher. “She was very hands-on and you could tell that she loved what she was teaching.”

Fifth-grade math and science teacher Sarah Goldberg says she loves using the city in her lessons.

Goldberg, 28, grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and earned her bachelor’s degree in education at McGill University in Montreal. She taught at a private school in Toronto for three years before moving to New York when her husband got a job in the city. Now in her second year teaching 5th-grade math and science at Claremont Preparatory School, Goldberg says she loves using the city in her lessons. She recently took students to the aquarium to learn about sea animals and dissect squid.

Like her 9th-grade teacher, Goldberg brings activities into the classroom when she can, having students garden, for example, when learning about plants. She says it helps make an intimidating subject like math or science more accessible.

“A lot of kids come into my classroom really scared of math,” she said. “I try to make it fun by incorporating songs and dances into my lessons.”

Some of the students from her previous school still remember a few of the songs she used to sing to help with lessons.

“I’m not afraid to laugh at myself and have fun. I like to incorporate songs that everyone knows,” said Goldberg, who admits to not having a great singing voice.

The popular Beyoncé song, “Irreplaceable,” is one she uses to help with math.

“I use the song because the chorus goes, ‘To the left, to the left,’ which is exactly what they need to remember when doing division,” she said.

Theatrics aside, it’s the personal attention Goldberg gives students that seems to make the biggest impact.

“My son has felt that she believes in him, and accordingly has come to believe in himself and perform at a level never seen before,” said Beverly Brown, the mother of a former student.

Goldberg says she can’t imagine doing anything else professionally.

“I was born to be a teacher,” she said.

Coworkers have certainly noticed that dedication.

“I feel like she has a sense beyond the classroom,” said Jane Eisenstadt, head of the middle school at Claremont Prep. “She’s an excellent listener and problem solver. She also understands multiple sides of every issue.”

Always in touch with parents, Goldberg confesses that some say she emails too much.

“But I really believe that parents need to know what is going on with their children’s education,” she said, “and the best way for that to happen is for me to let them know.”

–
Sarah Goldberg
5th-grade math and science, Claremont Preparatory School

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By Mary Stachyra

Years ago, Erika Petersen dreamed of becoming an actress. She enrolled in the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, but dropped out to pursue acting full time. After her daughter was born, she decided that the out-of-town trips were too taxing and enrolled in Hunter College, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in history and secondary education, and a master’s degree in theater history.

Erika Petersen, who acted professionally before she became a teacher, still takes dance classes in the summer.

Today, that knowledge comes together in the classroom at the Professional Children’s School, where for the past eight years Petersen has taught social studies, along with history to students who are learning English.

“They kind of dovetailed,” said Petersen, 61, who still takes dance classes in the summer. “It gives you a certain tool to kind of hold the audience—although I don’t believe you have to be constantly entertaining. You have to engage [the students] so that they stay concentrated on the learning.” She added, “Of course, you have to give them their time in the spotlight as well.”

At Professional Children’s School, an independent school where students pursue artistic professions alongside academics, that method is a hit. Students say they love Petersen’s tendency to “act out” scenes in the classroom.

“Ms. Petersen has a background in the theater, so her classes are never boring,” said Victoria Grempel, a former social studies student. “She is the exception to every single social studies teacher.”

Grempel also credits Petersen with teaching her how to write.

“She helped me put words together in this way that I never thought I could do,” said Grempel, who is now in 10th grade at the school and still goes back to visit Petersen. “She is one of my major influences, besides my parents, in my life.”

Petersen, a native New Yorker who has lived in her Upper West Side apartment for nearly 40 years, said she is proud of the work she did with Grempel. In her 14 years as an educator, there have been a lot of students who left an impression. Once, a student at Brandeis High School, where she previously taught, thought Peterson wasn’t dressing well enough—“and I probably wasn’t,” she acknowledged. So at Christmas, the student bought her a new suit.

“These kids didn’t have a lot, and I thought that this was the most lovely thing,” she said.

When students respond with such thoughtful gestures, though, it’s probably a reflection of Peterson’s daily classroom goal: raising the craft of teaching to an art.

“Teaching at the highest level you can teach at is important,” she said. “If you really know a lot, [the students] become fascinated.”

–
Erika Petersen
Social Studies, Professional Children’s School

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By Linnea Covington

With a cheerful “Good morning!” Will Owen greets each student in his 4th-grade class as they sit down. As soon as they are settled, he does something he calls “stretching,” which entails lessons like pre-reading and observation, to ready their minds for learning. Then they are off, delving into worlds of history, science and—Owen’s personal favorite—math.

Will Owen launched his career in education at a Bronx middle school through the Teach for America program.

“Will is a great teacher because he’s always so happy and ready to teach us,” said 9-year-old Sydney Ambers, one of his students. “He also makes us feel proud of ourselves for working hard.”

But teaching wasn’t always on Owen’s mind. After a friend explained the difference it made in his life, Owen, who had just finished college, couldn’t get the notion out of his head.

“I would go to bed at night and I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about all these great things I could do teaching,” he said. “It was a career choice that fit my personality.”

In 2004, Owen left his home state of Michigan and joined the non-
profit Teach for America, which focuses on getting teachers into underserved schools. His first day in a classroom, at the School of Leadership Development, C.I.S 313, in the Bronx, coincidently fell on his 23rd birthday. Owen stayed there for three years, teaching 6th-grade math before he transferred to P.S. 40 to run a 3rd-grade class. Now, he teachers 4th grade, “an amazing grade,” he said. Students and parents think so too—especially with Owen at the helm.

“His genuine love and concern really shines through all aspects of his teaching,” said parent Jill Hing. “I see my son blossoming in ways I don’t even think he is aware of.”

Although Owen says teaching didn’t come naturally at first, he studied other educators and read books until he gained the confidence to run a classroom.

“I think we [his class] have a really good relationship,” he said. “It’s about making it exciting and digging into the subjects. Also, I make sure the content of the lesson can be related to their lives and their worlds.”

One program that pushes students to succeed is his “Top Dog” theme, which started at the beginning of the year and entailed studying famous people, like Louis Braille, Harriet Tubman and the Wright Brothers. Inspired by these historical accomplishments, students would work hard to be named “Top Dog of the Week.” The chosen student was highlighted and received praise from classmates about his or her achievements.

“Featuring one student as a Top Dog each week keeps our focus on working hard and treating each other respectfully,” he said. “It’s amazing how the kids search for and find genuine reasons for their classmate being featured.”

This motivational tactic seems to reflect Owen’s approach to teaching as a whole.

“He respects his students’ intellect, but also remembers that they are children and they need positive reinforcement to thrive,” said Sydney’s mother, Jesse Ambers. “But, most importantly, I think that the students know that he is on their side.”

–
Will Owen
4th grade, P.S. 40

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By Shannon Geis

In a funny way, it was a stint on cruise ship that allowed Florence Evans to fully understand her love of teaching.

The Long Island native had studied vocal performance at the Manhattan School of Music and taught music education at P.S. 166. But she had a dream of performing, and took a job on a cruise ship when the opportunity arose. Once there, however, Evans realized that she would rather be back in the classroom.

Florence Evans says she always knew she would either be a Broadway performer or a teacher.

“I always knew I was either going to be a Broadway performer or a teacher,” said Evans, 32.

She came back to New York City and began working in East Harlem while taking graduate classes in early elementary education from Bank Street College of Education. After spending two years on maternity leave, she took a job as a 1st-grade teacher at St. Stephen of Hungary. She enjoys the personal connection she forges with each student and has found that teaching 1st grade is much more rewarding than teaching music.

Still, Evans uses music in her classroom every day. Songs are transitions between lessons and subjects, and her class sings while they put their books away or while they are going back to their seats. Music is a better way to grab students’ attention than raising her voice, she has found, and it helps them remember grammar and math rules.

“She is always singing, and now the whole school is singing,” said Mary Rose Vella, mother of one of Evans’ students. “My daughter has grown so much in Evans’ class. She is now reading chapter books.”

Evans has a knack for zeroing in on each student’s academic needs, according to Vella.

“She sees the weaknesses and the strengths and helps the students to improve,” Vella said.

Evans said a big part of her approach is creating a sense of community in the classroom.

“We get together each morning and the students greet each other and share with each other before we start our lessons,” she said. “I believe in collaboration, so my room is never silent. I like to hand things over to them and give them ownership of their learning.”

Evans’ daughter, Hannah, also attends the school and spends her days across the hall from her mother.

“It has been wonderful to be so close to my daughter while still being able to work,” Evans said. “The school has been very supportive.”

Evans and her husband, Craig, who works at an accounting firm, have been married for seven years. They live in Rockaway, where they enjoy spending time on the beach.

After testing a few career options, Evans says she’s finally found her place at St. Stephen of Hungary—and she hopes to be at the school for a long time.

“We’re all here to give the kids the best education possible,” she said. “That makes this a beautiful place to work and I’m glad to be here.”

–
Florence Evans
1st grade, St. Stephen of Hungary

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By Lydie Raschka

Every weekday, Karen Kilbane rides her bike from Tribeca to the Upper East Side to teach kindergarten at Hunter College Elementary School.

“She lives for her kindergarten,” said Principal Randy Collins. “Her class is a great way for kids to start school.”

An inventive teacher, one of Karen Kilbane’s lessons brings students to Central Park to make an ecology-based documentary.

Kilbane wasn’t sure she wanted to be a teacher when she first volunteered with children more than a decade ago and became caught up in their “energy, love and excitement” for learning. She had an in at Hunter, a public elementary school for the gifted run by the eponymous CUNY school: Her aunt is a professor of education there. Kilbane was hired as an assistant teacher, still unsure if she wanted to commit her life to teaching. About a month into the job, she knew she’d found her calling.

In her classroom, students learn through the arts—drama, literature, music, film, dance and the visual arts. This may take the form of a mural, based on research about the animals of ancient Egypt and how they relate to the gods, or choreographing and performing in a Broadway-caliber musical about Sekhmet, the Egyptian warr ior goddess. Kilbane’s desire is to “keep every child challenged, interested, happy, learning and growing, in spite of different abilities and needs.”

One approach that has worked well to meet these goals is an ecology-based documentary her class makes about Central Park. The class takes field trips with park rangers. Then they go out in smaller groups and capture footage of their own Central Park discoveries and work with the technology teacher to edit a polished film.

“They share their information,” Kilbane said. “It’s project-based learning and it’s seamless—they don’t even realize it’s science.”

A native of Ohio, Kilbane is admired for her creativity, warmth and love
of learning.

“She loves big projects that involve learning on very deep levels,” said parent Kelly Posner-Gerstenhaber, whose 1st-grade son will find any excuse to go back to visit his kindergarten classroom. “All subjects are seamlessly connected and integrated. If ancient Egypt is the subject area of the year, then Egyptian math and numbers are studied.”

Kilbane brings her own passions to the classroom. She enjoys nature, mythology, gardening, hiking and traveling.

“I’m somewhat of a non-conformist,” she said. “That’s part of why I love Hunter. I’ve never taught anywhere else. The school gives us a lot of freedom to teach the way we want to teach while adhering to benchmarks. These are bright little kids who have so much to say. I try to give them an environment where everyone is learning from each other.”

Kilbane has been at Hunter for 13 years, five of them as a head kindergarten teacher—a long time, and yet just the beginning when compared to her father, who taught middle school in Ohio for 50 years. He is a big proponent of public education and has been a model of “dedication, hard work and passion,” Kilbane said. She follows in his footsteps. When it comes to teaching, she said, “I like the challenge.”

–
Karen Kilbane
Kindergarten, Hunter College Elementary School

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By Mirva Lempiainen

When students’ eyes light up and get that “aha!” expression, that’s when Randi Toll realizes how much she loves her job.

“These are the moments I enjoy the most,” she said.

Luckily for Toll, who teaches 1st grade at P.S. 163, “it happens a fair amount.”

Dual-language teacher Randi Toll became fluent in Spanish while working as a nanny in Chiapas, Mexico.

“First grade is really a year when the kids make a huge jump in reading and writing,” she said, adding that literacy is her favorite subject to teach.

A former nanny and product of the New York City Teaching Fellows program, Toll has been teaching for seven years now, three years at P.S. 163 and four at P.S. 153.

“I always wanted to work with kids,” she said.

As a nanny, Toll spent six months in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, which helped her become fluent in Spanish. She now uses those skills in her dual-language classroom, where students study in English on Mondays and Wednesdays, and in Spanish the other days. Some students are Spanish-dominant, some are English-dominant and some are fully bilingual.

“It’s a challenge. We have kids from all different backgrounds,” she said. “They are a very cohesive group so it ends up working well.”

Franziska Castillo, the parent of one of Toll’s students, thinks Toll is a big part of that equation.

“Ms. Toll is so kind and loving that she knows how to help all the children in the class become a unit,” she said. “At home, my daughter notices fractions around the house, and uses vocabulary that surprises her aunts and uncles. It’s all because of Ms. Toll.”

Ellen Schorr, another parent, thinks Toll is everything a 1st-grade teacher should be: smart, creative and fun-loving. Schorr likes that Toll brings creativity into lessons, like making buildings out of marshmallows and using cooking to learn how to measure. But a sense of order always pervades.

“While very warm and affectionate toward the children, she is no pushover,” Schorr said. “She has perfect command over her classroom without ever yelling, threatening, or belittling.”

Toll believes her respectful attitude toward children has something to do with her success in the classroom.

“I connect pretty well with the kids,” she said. “I like to try and talk to them like they are people, not kids.”

Parents also appreciate Toll’s enthusiasm for literature.

“Her love of reading and books rubs off on the kids,” said Carrie Reynolds, a parent. “My daughter is now an avid reader who first learned to read in Spanish before she learned to read in English.”

Reynolds appreciates that Toll celebrates each student’s birthday in class, and even signed the children up for yoga in the classroom.

“Everybody loves her,” Reynolds said.

Toll, too, feels like she is in the right field and cherishes being a teacher.

“There are never any moments when I feel like I should be doing something else,” she said.

–
Randi Toll
1st grade, P.S. 163

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By Lydie Raschka

Kindergarten teacher Brenda Davis is known, respectfully, as the “Jedi Master of early childhood teachers” by the parents who revere her—a few of whom were in her classroom when they were 5 and 6 years old. Davis learned her craft through years of practice, training and dedication. She is described as “artful,” “wise,” “focused” and “patient.”

Brenda Davis says she likes working with kindergartners because “they tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.”

“It’s better as I’ve gotten older,” she said. “I have much more patience with children than adults.”

Yet the adults at P.S. 180 watch and learn.

“As a parent, you drink it up and try to take notes,” said Megan Berry. “Her skill is the result of someone who has been showing up for everything for years.”

After a dissatisfying foray in the business world, Davis worked in daycare for 10 years. She ventured into the public school system as a substitute, schlepping a bag of activities suitable for kindergartners through middle schoolers because of her constantly changing assignments. But her heart has always been with the youngest ones.

“I always liked the early grades,” she said. “They tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.”

Davis has seen at least six principals come and go in her 21 years at P.S. 180. One of her biggest challenges has been adapting to those who arrive with new methodologies and trends.

“That has been a challenge,” she said. “Sometimes they didn’t have elementary school experience. I’ve had to learn to be more flexible. I used to have much more fixed ideas. As I get older, I see we can reach the same point and come from different directions.”

In many ways, however, Davis is a principal’s dream. She loves to learn and refine her technique. A recent training topic was “differentiated instruction,” or providing students with different avenues to acquire content, based on their interests and abilities.

“Some students are really into dinosaurs,” Davis said, “and I have a lot of block builders this year. You have to feel your group. Each group has a different rhythm and you can’t alter that. I find private moments to sit and talk to them about their interests. There’s a lot of talking in pre-K and K.”

There’s also a lot of going out. She takes her class to the Bronx Zoo, the Transit Museum and Central Park to look for bugs.

Davis has had her own Jedi Masters along the way: a mother “who liked to explain things;” Mrs. Jackson, her 3rd- grade teacher; and a grandmother who was “a great reader.” In college, she had a supportive professor who encouraged her to “keep going forward” when she was inclined to stop with her associate’s degree. Eventually, she earned her master’s from Adelphi University.

A life-long Manhattanite, Davis enjoys swimming, walking and Turner Classic Movies. She has one child and one grandchild and is active in children’s programming at her church. At P.S. 180, alumni can often be found hovering around her door, a testament to her lasting impact.

“Heart, soul and spirit,” she said. “That’s what a child needs nurtured.” 

–
Brenda Davis
Kindergarten, P.S. 180

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By Aline Reynolds

Five-year-olds at P.S. 187 in Washington Heights are learning how to recycle and bake croissants—in addition, of course, to the basics of reading and writing.

Their teacher, Jill Hovde, developed a passion for teaching back in college, when she taught children about nocturnal animals and how to care for injured hawks at the Delaware Nature Society.

After a door-decorating project, Jill Hovde taught her kindergarteners about Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings.

“I really liked the hands-on environmental work with the kids,” she said.

Born and raised in Rockland County, Hovde earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Delaware and her master’s degree in special education at St. Thomas Aquinas College. She also completed a master’s “Plus 30” program in art history at SUNY Purchase.

Now in her 18th year at P.S. 187, Hovde frequently integrates art into the kindergarten curriculum. She taught students about Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings at the conclusion of a grade-wide door decoration project.

“My daughter comes home and talks about the Impressionist painters,” said Anya Mateo, a parent of one of Hovde’s students. “I didn’t learn about them until I was a teen.”

Mateo decided against home-
schooling her 5-year-old daughter, Ana, as she does her 6-year-old son, Yuri, because of Hovde.

“She weaves all these separate facts into this big picture of the world,” Mateo said.

Hovde says her own 5th-grade teacher, Judith Factor, is her academic inspiration.

“Ms. Factor made me love school,” she said. “It was a very creative, project-based class.”

Many of the projects Hovde works on today incorporate the expertise of parents, who are regularly invited into the classroom. Mateo, a licensed pharmacist, coordinated and taught a lesson on the different phases of the moon as part of a gardening project. On Cinco de Mayo, the class discussed Mexico’s independence and made guacamole from scratch with the help of food stylist Lisa Homa, whose 5-year-old son, Ellis, loves Hovde’s class.

“I can read better because of Ms. Hovde,” Ellis said. “And she lets us make ice cream sundaes.”

Ellis’ handwriting, his mother pointed out, is much clearer now than it was earlier in the school year.

“Ms. Hovde was very encouraging, writing special notes when he improved,” she said.

Hovde’s class also gets to experience the outdoors. On walks in the park, she talks about the geometrics of fire hydrants, stop signs and streetlights. The kindergarteners took weekly trips to nearby Bennett Park for a gardening project, in which they cultivated plants and built a mosaic birdbath.

“We do a lot of activities rather than just rote learning,” Hovde said. “It individualizes the curriculum for each of them.”

The P.S. 187 kindergarteners are also stepping up their vocabulary, learning words like “ascend” and “composure.”

“I’ll draw a circle around my face with my fingers and pull my hands down over my face,” Hovde said. “They did that for two weeks and totally got it. It’s amazing to watch them learn… you know you’ve opened the world to them.”

–
Jill Hovde
Kindergarten, P.S. 187

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