Collaborative Teacher Profiles

Sample profiles of current (2003-2004) Collaborative Teachers.

Caleb Hurst-Hiller graduated from Brown University, earning an A.B. in history, with honors. While at Brown, he started an after-school teaching and tutoring program for disadvantaged Providence students. Growing up in New York City, Caleb attended one of the first essential schools, Central Park East II, in East Harlem. He has since attempted to shake his deep urban roots, traveling extensively and settling in Fitchburg for the year. Caleb is currently teaching eighth grade social studies at North Central Charter Essential School.

“Through its brief, but intense, summer session, the NTC provided me with a necessary introduction to both the larger educational issues which we ponder as teachers and the smaller, more routine occurrences we encounter in the classroom on a daily basis. In addition to providing a curriculum on adolescent psychology, special education, and the history of American educational reform, the intimate community created through the NTC is continuing to serve as a group to which I feel comfortable turning when confronted with the challenges of this profession. The NTC has blended a study of the craft of teaching with the ability to experience pedagogical issues in real time on the job; I cannot imagine diving into this world any other way.”

 
Liz Naiman graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts. Liz majored in Theology and Government and minored in English. While at Georgetown, Liz was an SAT prep classroom teacher as well as an Assistant Teacher in a 3rd grade classroom. She also participated in Sursum Corda, an inner city mentoring program which matches Georgetown undergraduates with Washington DC area high school students. During her summers, Liz worked as a Group Leader at ASA Programs at Stanford University, a college preparatory program for high school juniors and seniors. Liz is currently teaching tenth grade English at Souhegan High School.

“Through the New Teachers' Collaborative, I have embarked on the process of mastering the intricacies of the classroom while learning the larger theories of secondary education. It is daunting to step into the classroom for the first time but, through the NTC, I feel confident that I have a large system of support, both from renowned, seasoned educators and from my fellow new teachers. I rely on our seminars as a reflective "step back" from the classroom: How can I improve my practice? What am I doing well as a first year teacher? The New Teachers' Collaborative supplies the pedagogical advice, innovative ideas, and comforting humor that I need to get through my first year of teaching!”

Jen Spingla graduated from the University of Maine in 1996 with a B.S. in Horticulture. During and after college she worked as a youth expedition leader and experiential educator along the coast of Maine. She also co-instructed an outdoor leadership and marine science course for high school students to earn college credit through Franklin Pierce College and the Marine Awareness Research Expedition School. Jen taught 7^th and 8^th grade science at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School and is currently teaching at the North Central Charter Essential School in Fitchburg. 

“NTC provides the perfect bridge between academic learning and hands-on experience. Through NTC, we are provided with the opportunity to simultaneously be both teachers and learners; what we learn is reinforced in the best possible way, through real life experience. I considered graduate school as a means of obtaining teaching certification but it removed me from the very thing that had drawn me to teaching, the students.”