Features

Maddi Etxebeste

Staff Writer

This year we have four new teachers at Science Leadership Academy, including Spanish teacher Joselyn Hernandez. She will teach Spanish 1 and 2, as well as some Rosetta Stone classes, in room 209.

With Puerto Rican origins, she grew up in a Latino neighborhood in North Philadelphia. She currently lives in Olney.

Previous Schools

She attended St. Hugh of Cluny, a Catholic School near Fairhill, in North Philadelphia, and then Bodine High School. Her experience at Bodine High School was very different from what she sees at SLA. For example, at Bodine she wore an obligatory uniform and the teaching method was much more traditional. There was one similarity, however: her Physical Education teacher at Bodine was Ms. Martin! (She taught at Bodine before coming to SLA eight years ago).

Before SLA, Ms. Hernandez taught at Philadelphia’s Military High School which is much smaller that SLA, which she liked.

Getting Used to SLA

As her mentor, Spanish Teacher Melanie Manuel said that the transition has been manageable for Ms. Hernandez.  

“The most difficult thing for her has been to get used to SLA, not to teaching Spanish, because she had already done it before, but all the new teachers receive preparatory classes to get to know how SLA works.”

Ms. Hernandez agreed. “The most confusing thing when I arrived was the teaching method, but I got integrated in the school more easily thanks to my new colleagues, who were welcoming and helpful, and made me feel in a comfortable work environment.”

She likes SLA because she has the chance to experiment with something different than what she was used to. In addition, she likes her pupils; she describes them as hard-working and smart students. She wants, from the beginning, to create a strong relationship with them.

Teaching Methods

Her teaching methods vary, and include group tasks and collaboration between students. Her curriculum and Manuel’s are the same, both because they teach the same subject and and because they both enjoy music and dance, which they use to supplement their lessons. “She especially likes singing!” said Ms. Manuel. Ms. Hernandez would like to open a sort of “singing club” and do things with students outside of the school if she had the opportunity.

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

This year, Science Leadership Academy gained four new teachers. One of them is math teacher Morgan Bushnell. Ms. Bushnell took over Ms. Thompson’s former responsibility of teaching geometry and also teaches statistics. She has exceptional excitement and motivation to teach her new students.

 

Starting Off

Ms. Bushnell used to work at a very different school : KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy located in West Philadelphia. She taught 9th-11th grade mathematics, so she has had previous experience teaching high school students.

 “I’m constantly looking for ways to make content more interesting,” said Ms. Bushnell.

 

Confusion and Struggles

What is she most confused about? “The schedule is the most confusing part. As a new teacher, I’m learning different traditions and how things work as I go, and so it can be confusing at times when I’m like, ‘Oh, there wasn’t a specific email sent to me, about how to do this certain thing.’ But, you know, I’m learning as I go so, I’m getting less confused every single day.”

As for challenges, Ms. Bushnell noted high temperatures in her classroom — one of the windowless rooms lacking  air-conditioning on the 5th floor — and how it was not something she was expecting. “I have sweaters that go with all of my outfits, so now like I don’t get to wear any of my sweaters just because it’s so hot!” She laughed. “I was expecting it to be a lot cooler.”

Help is On the Way!

Mrs. Giorgio talked about hearing Ms. Bushnell’s more challenging experiences at her previous job, and reflected a bit on how she’s lucky that she genuinely enjoys her job at SLA as the Algebra 1 and Geometry teacher.

“It’s really interesting getting to know what her experience is like, so I think from hearing some of her experiences that were negative, it helps me to put some things in perspective,” Mrs. Giorgio stated. “ I really enjoy being here [at SLA], but at times you get frustrated with the little things.“

Mrs. Giorgio has been by her side this whole time helping out with lesson plans, benchmark ideas, receiving feedback, and much more. As Ms. Bushnell continues to adjust to our ways, she keeps herself motivated and students are greatly appreciating her positive support.

“She communicates effectively and asks any questions if she has them and she models that kind of behavior for her students, too. If she doesn’t know something, she’s not afraid to ask about it.” said Mrs. Giorgio.

 

Student Acceptance

When asked about her experience in Geometry class so far and how it compared to other years, sophomore Kimberly Gucciardi Kreigh responded:

“So far she has refreshed my perspective on math, giving me a fresh attitude and a safe environment to get help with any problems I have. Lots of students tend to struggle with math, including myself, so it’s great to see someone new who is up to taking a big challenge.”

Bushnell has already been welcomed with open arms by the students. Two seniors gifted her with extra Beyonce tickets they won in the raffle for the show on September 29th.

All in all, Ms. Bushnell seems very excited and motivated to be teaching at Science Leadership Academy and to experience her first year here in a project-based school.

 

Meymey Seng

Staff Writer

With a goodbye, there’s a new hello. Victor Hernandez is Science Leadership Academy’s  new Algebra 2 and Computer Science teacher who says he is from “everywhere but nowhere”. He came from teaching pre-calc and Algebra 2 at Esperanza Academy for three years, which is a big adjustment for him, but he’s looking forward to working it out.

“He’s very confident and knows what he’s talking about. A creative, thoughtful, and kind person,” said Co-Principal Aaron Gerwer.

 

Positive Energy

Something that immediately struck Mr. Hernandez was SLA’s energy when he first came to EduCon a couple years ago. All of the teachers, students, and other participants were very enthusiastic, which is something that he has not seen in many schools.

“There was an energy here that’s noticeably absent in a lot of other schools so it really intrigued me once I started finding out why people were interested I realized that I had that in common with them and I was like oh that seems like a place where I would get a lot out of it.”

 

Teaching Style

He plans to keep the curriculum in Algebra 2 similar to past years since it has gone so well. However, he plans to bring in projects that he has given his past students while incorporating them in a way that would best fit SLA.

What does he want kids to learn? He would like students to “have a context of a new concept before they start learning skills because if you don’t know where a skill fits in outside of this classroom, it’s very hard to keep track of.”

For Computer Science, he will modify the class based on what he knows from programming and also on the different students that he is working with, because everyone has a different pace.

“Something new that Mr. Hernandez did that I like is letting us put assignments in a table folder rather than just coming around to collect it,” 10th grader Harlem Satterfield said. “I can’t imagine having a different Algebra 2 teacher!”

Background

What does coming from “everywhere but nowhere” mean? Mr. Hernandez was born in Colombia, then went to Saudi Arabia, to California, to Massachusetts, and now lives in Philadelphia.

“I’ve lived a lot of different places, but none of those are places I’d call home,” he said. He was always going to new places and haven’t lived anywhere consistently but now he has a wife and a son in a house he can call home in South Philadelphia.

 

Life Before Teaching

Before going into teaching, Mr. Hernandez did many other things. When he was fourteen, he was a foreign exchange student in a school in Southern California. In college, he was a radio DJ. After that, he got a job as a software engineer at Apple but later decided to get a teaching certificate.

 

Music, Movies, and Extracurricular Activities

Aside from teaching, Mr. Hernandez is a music fanatic. He listens to a huge variety of music such as underground rock, punk, late 80s and early 90s hip hop, jazz, latin music, and more. In fact, he used to be a radio DJ in college which is exposed him to a lot of music. Not only does he have a passion of finding new music, he has a similar passion towards both old and international movies.

He would watch way back to silent movies to the transition of having voice which would be in the 1930s, especially American Hollywood productions. Other types of movies he enjoys are French movies, post World War 2, Eastern European, and so much more. Although, he is not a big fan of the new movies that has recently been coming out.