Teacher Spotlight
Ms.Tatar
6th Grade English (Yellow)
By: Giullia Caico
Why did you chose to teach this subject?
"I’ve always loved to read, and since a young age, have wanted to become a teacher. I also always loved working with kids. I used to play teacher with my sister when we were younger. I put my love for reading with my love of teaching and decided to become an English teacher."
If you weren’t a teacher, what is your dream job?
"If I weren’t a teacher, I would want to work for a magazine. I like photography and writing articles. I also like food and cooking, so maybe Bon Appétit magazine."
When did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?
"Going back to the first answer, I always wanted to be a teacher. I used to do fake lessons with my sister and gave her fake homework to do. I have volunteered to work with kids many times, like in summer and overnight camps."
Where did you grow up?
"I grew up in Medford and moved to New Hampshire when I was 10."
What was your favorite grade?
"Probably my sophomore year in high school. I had awesome teachers and teamed up with my friends to make many awesome projects."
What was your favorite subject in middle school?
"Definitely English. I had some awesome teachers that made English class fun."
Do you have the same relationships with your siblings/family members, as you did in middle school?
"No, my relationship with my family has changed since middle school. I have a sister, and we used to bicker all the time. As we grew up, we grew closer. I thought she was very annoying in middle school. Now, we’re very close. Same thing with parents, especially with the space between us."
What do you think are the most important qualities in friendships?
"One of the most important qualities is trust. You have to trust a friend will keep secrets and be honorable. If that trust is broken, the friendship will break apart. Neutral interests are also something important. It can be dance, music, sports, or anything else. Neutral interests help bond friends together."
Ms. Berinato
8th Grade Math (Silver)
By: Erica Bui
Why did you choose to teach this subject?
"I have always loved math since I was little. There were a lot of people who did math when I was growing up. My father taught math for 39 years. My uncle was an architect and also loved math. I grew up in a super little town, and I had him teach me the math he knew for 2 years."
If you weren’t a teacher, what is your dream job?
"I love to read, so I’d maybe be a librarian."
When did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?
"I decided to be a teacher in my junior year of college. I thought I wanted to become a business student, but I changed my mind and switched my major."
Where did you grow up?
"I grew in Wisconsin, in a very small farming community, and about a half-hour from the capital of the state, Madison. "
What was your favorite grade?
"Probably my junior year of high school. I had a wonderful group of friends that year."
What was your favorite subject in middle school?
"Math was my favorite subject and English was my second favorite."
Do you have the same relationships with your siblings/family members, as you did in middle school?
"I’m an only child, so I can’t compare to siblings, but I’ve always been close to the rest of my family. I see them frequently since they live on the Cape."
What do you think are the most important qualities in friendships?
"I think honesty and loyalty are very important qualities to a friendship."
Mr. Harrington
Art
By: Maya Singh
Why did you choose to teach this subject?
"I'm an artist by trait. So I was artist in art school as a kid and doing my undergrad...I studied painting and my mom was a teacher. She worked in environmental education in schools and stuff like that, and so I always had that kind of idea in my mind. I love helping people. So it kind of came together in sort of two ways. I had a love of art and design, but I also really liked working in my community and everything...I really liked working with people. So, it kind of just made sense. Looking for a career in art is not an easy thing, and I was really a studio artist. I didn't see myself as a design artist necessarily. When I was going to school, we didn't see the design world as a huge option for us. Today it's very different. The creative economy is enormous. It wasn't exactly the same as when I was a kid. You were either a studio art person or you were a design person. You couldn't be both...I felt like my out was to get out there and start teaching. Teach kids about art and design, and why it's really important to have a relationship with that in your life."
If you weren’t a teacher, what is your dream job?
"Oh I can tell you that right away! I would be a National Geographic Photographer. And I would study a animal or a plant, and I would be embedded in the environment...I would love to just live in the top of a tree and photograph a bird for like three years. Come out with some cool new information. It would be research through the camera."
Where did you grow up?
"Right here in Bedford, actually. I graduated in 1987, lived all over the place, and then ended up back here."
What was your favorite subject in middle school?
"Hmmm. Probably science. I like to mess around in a science lab. I like to think like a science person. I've always been very into nature, a naturalist as a kid. So, for me in junior high, we learned about natural sciences, so I loved that."
What do you think are the most important qualities in friendships?
"That's a great question! I definitely going to have to say listening. I think in a friendship it's important to remember that being someone who is willing to listen to people is really important. I think an important quality in friendship is being honest with people and with yourself. And being open for people and being available. I think it's important as a friend to be available to people as a friend.
Do you have the same relationships with your siblings/family members, as you did in middle school?
"I've learned alot about what it means to be a good friend from just being a good sibling. We're all really close. I have a brother who's younger than I am and I have a sister who's older than I am. And my parents live near us (sorta). We're all pretty close. I think it's about the same. Maybe it's evolved, because that's how things work. WHen I was younger I had more in common with my brother, than I did with my sister. But I have 4 kids and my sister has 5 kids. My brother has 2, so I kind of have a little more with her. We started having kinda before my brother. At different times in my life I lined up in different ways with different siblings. We all still stand our ground. We don't really argue that much. We're not a fighting family. We definitely disagree, but we do it in a was that is not loud, very quiet. We'll have a great time.
When did you decide you wanted to be a teacher?
My mind went back to actually 2nd grade. Not because I felt like in 2nd grade I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in elementary school I was diagnosed with a learning disability. In Massachusetts, in the mid-70s. It wasn't until 1976 that we had a school rights for children with learning disabilities. At that time I ended up staying back in second grade. I was tested at children's hospital in Boston, and they decided 'Oh Harrington enjoys string out windows and drawing way more than he does getting involved in the classroom.'...My first grade teacher, who I ad when I was tested and diagnosed, really loved me, and loved the drawings that I did. So in 2nd and 3rd grade, she had me come back and teach her classes how to draw these little drawings that I could do. I t made me feel good as I got older, trying to figure out my way through. I think that in life, as I've grown older and I respected that difference in learners, because I am a different learner, as we all are. It's really a teaching disability, not a learning disability. I think that sort of unlocked for me, this joy of giving back. That there was power in giving back to people. That carried on for me through out. It helped coach me throughout my life. I loved sports, so I love to share what I love with people. That sorta started it. In college it was pretty clear to me that most of the professors I had were teaching me about art making, were in their 50s before they ever started selling art and really being independant. That life style wasn't what I wanted. I though I want to teach. I'll go teach kids about art. Be the best of both worlds. I'll make my own art and teach about it too. That's how it all evolved.
What was your favorite grade?