Beep! The bell rings at the end of first period class, and students quickly file up the stairs. Once they are in the 300 hallway, the students walk into room 308, well before the next bell rings. Some students slowly make their way to the back of the classroom where they take their seats. A few minutes later, Adam Lafond, a junior at GHS, will walk in to join the back of the classroom. Students are then greeted by Mrs. Delano, and it’s time to guess the graph.
Mrs. Delano is a first year teacher at GHS. Prior to this year, she worked as a substitute teacher at GHS for four years; this is her first year as a full-time teacher. Mrs. Delano attended college at Keene State, Boston University, and NHTI. Mrs. Delano teaches Probability and Statistics, as well as Algebra 1. So far, Adam has enjoyed having Ms. Delano as his teacher. She can take a joke and dish one out just as well.
Mrs. Delano was nervous when she first started teaching this year. She didn’t have confidence in talking in front of the students and believing that she knew what she was talking about. It didn’t take long to realize that she’d got this. When asked about gaining confidence she said “Once I remembered I had a master’s degree and knew what I was talking about, teaching got a lot easier.”
Adam said sitting in the back of Mrs. Delano’s class is rather entertaining; you never know what will happen. As an example, one day Mrs. Delano mentioned that she was a millennial, so Carter guessed her age. He missed by ten years. That was a tough look for the young man. Mrs. Delano is a good sport and is willing to listen to a students’ arguments, even if they are wrong.
Mrs. Delano is a great teacher, is engaging, and can listen to suggestions and incorporate them into her curriculum. She has compassion for her students and cares about them. She said, “If I were doing it for the money, I would do something else.”
