Supporting teachers and teaching
Faculty gathered at the shores of Lake Fairlee on Friday, August 25, to kick off the new school year. After catching up with colleagues and making the acquaintance of new staff, the group assembled in the meeting hall of the Aloha Hive campground to hear from Head of School Mary Newman, engage in community-building activities, and to learn of an exciting new position from Board President Tanya Swett.
Mary opened the meeting with a reflection on the salutary effects of the summer break on her commitment to TSA. “I felt re-energized and recommitted to the work, and the place, and to you.” She likened each school year to a mountain hike: the effort of the ascent, the encounters with obstacles, and the importance of support from fellow travelers. Each mountain hike is unique; each school year is unique. But all of them benefit from the support of one’s community.
After a series of activities, some fun community-building and other more reflective exercises, Mary introduced Board President Tanya Swett. Tanya observed that the issues facing TSA today are far different from those facing TSA when Mary Newman took on her role as Head of School. “We realized that there has been a significant change from that time and our current reality in terms of student needs and challenges that no one could have anticipated. We recognized that what was left out was a focus on and support of teaching and learning at TSA. Mary had set a goal at the beginning of the year to support the staff, but it was impossible to address this on top of all the other things she has to do in her position.”
Today, the learning needs of our student body are more diverse and their social-emotional demands are much greater. Teachers have been working hard to adapt to these challenges, largely on their own. Recognizing this, over the past year, the board collected feedback from families and faculty to understand the extent and nature of the challenges. During the summer, the board analyzed this information and concluded that the teachers needed professional support and feedback to improve both their teaching effectiveness and their personal feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. Tanya concluded, “We recognized that TSA needed a Director of Teaching and Learning who works alongside and closely with Mary. We also felt the need was immediate.”
When the board communicated this idea to Mary, she “felt instantly and profoundly relieved.” She shared, “I was stunned with how aligned and thoughtful the board was. They had really taken all the information and consolidated it into a focused action step to address the need. So my response was immediate gratitude and a bit of envy because this was the work that I was sort of starting to do and get excited about, even before becoming HOS, but I know that I am not the right person right now to make it happen. I am so grateful to the board for their dedication and attention to what the school needs most right now.”
With Mary’s support, a subcommittee was formed with members of the board and Director of TSA Middle School Andrew Lane to develop a job description for the Director of Teaching and Learning. On the list was familiarity with TSA’s strengths and weaknesses, experience as an educator in various environments outside of TSA, familiarity with Special Education needs and models, and demonstrated leadership and team-building skills, among many other attributes. The ideal candidate will be difficult to find, or at least will take time to find so the team decided that TSA should try to find a consultant to begin to make progress, gather more information for our long-term needs, and help with specific areas that we knew needed support, like professional development, individual coaching, brainstorming about particular challenges, as well as systems for feedback and evaluation.
So where could the board find such a person? The subcommittee realized that board member Jarod Wunneberger was an ideal candidate for this consultative position. With Mary and Jarod’s concurrence, Jarod (known as “W”) stepped off the board and will assume an 80% position to support and work with high school teachers this school year. The Board will be in regular contact with W to assess the impact of his work.
“Wunneburger” became Mr. W to his middle school students in NY, and then just W. He taught mostly students of color, Special Education, and math, then held various positions including directing STEM and Spanish programs. He is currently the Director of Camps, coaching other directors, as well as the Director of Camp Timberlake, a part of the Farm & Wilderness Foundation in Plymouth, VT. He has a Masters in Special Education from St. Johns University, a Masters of School Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Southern California. He is training a therapy dog, Atlas, to take with him to school.
W recalls his struggles with math as a middle schooler himself, an experience that helps him empathize and communicate with his students. As a teacher in the inner city, he learned to manage some of the most intransigent student behavior. W shared his hopes with the staff “to take your craft, with its years of experience and expertise, and elevate it” He’s a fan of ritual and routine as a behavior management tool, recognizing that middle and high school brains benefit from clear expectations and the language of those expectations. He plans to spend most of his time in classrooms to really get to know each teacher, their skill set, and their specific students. He wants to know, “What is your unique thing as a teacher; Tell me the things you love, what excites you, what is it that frustrates you?”
“I also know that I have to earn your trust. Coming from a place of relative power, I have to shift to the classroom and will do what it takes to earn your trust. If you need help tidying your classroom, I’ll do that.”
As both W and the school gain experience through the course of the year, a plan will be developed to consider next steps. The Middle School staff are eager to have similar support; this is definitely also a hope of the Board and Head of School. This year’s experience will allow for flexibility in scope of work and need and will also determine whether a more permanent position makes sense along with a more traditional hiring process.