Dedham Mirror: What is your role at DHS?

MacDonald: Educational Support Professional (ESP).

DM: How long have you been an educator?

M: This will be my third year!

DM: Where have you taught before?

M: I was formerly an ESP at Dedham High’s transitions program, LifeStart, which operates out of Dedham’s Town Hall.

DM: Where did you go to college and what did you study?

M: I attended Roger Williams University and majored in Cultural Anthropology & Sociology with a concentration in Sustainability Systems/Studies. I also attended graduate school at Boston University for Urban/Regional Planning & Community Development until I decided I didn't actually want to be an urban planner. 

DM: What do you like most about teaching/being in the classroom?

M: There are a lot of things I enjoy about being in the classroom, but one of the most rewarding is helping a student take apart something that feels completely overwhelming (academically, socially, emotionally, whatever it may be) and make it smaller, clearer, and more manageable. I love that moment when we can look back at “the big awful thing” and realize we’ve dismantled it together.

DM: What are your pet peeves in the classroom?

M: It’s all pretty environmental. My biggest peeve is a totally bare classroom without personality or material culture to look at. On the other hand, I also really dislike classrooms with too much decoration and distracting visuals. 

DM: What inspired you to become an educator?

M: My experiences as a former special education student and the interview-heavy work I completed for my undergraduate thesis on labels and discourse in special education, where I got to hear many stories from former/current educators.

DM: What sets you apart from other educators?

M: My diverse career history (political campaigns, finance/accounting, public affairs and communications, environmental consulting), and my lived experience as a former special education student. I want students to experience school as a place where they are understood as full people, not reduced to deficits, labels, behaviors, or performance. Education can either reinforce a student’s sense of limitation or expand their sense of possibility, and I wanted to be part of the latter.

DM: Will you be involved in any extracurricular activities?

M: I haven’t given this much thought, but I am open to possibilities!

DM: What do you like most about Dedham and its community?

M: I love the layers of history in our own backyards, but also all the weird little suburban rituals and local lore that come with growing up here. I’m especially fond of the annual Cow Day (Dedham Day) conspiracy, where the same suspiciously well-connected townspeople somehow keep winning the plot where the cow is going to poop. That kind of tiny, hyperlocal absurdity feels very Dedham to me.

DM: Where are you from originally?

M: I grew up in Boston and Dedham, spending the first half of my childhood/adolescence in the former and the second half in the latter.

DM: What are your hobbies?

M: I like to read and write (mostly non-fiction & memoir). I love dancing (hip hop, contemporary & ballet) and walking, especially in the city. I've been painting for a long time, though I'm not very skilled, and I picked up archery over the summer after visiting Hale Reservation in Westwood.

DM: What is your favorite movie?

M: The Fifth Element.

DM: Favorite TV/streaming show?

M: Xena: The Warrior Princess.

DM: Favorite book?

M: Hard choice! I love so many. Either Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead (non-fiction) or Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (fiction). 

DM: Favorite genre of music and favorite artist?

M: Classic Rock: The Rolling Stones and Hip Hop/Soul: The Roots or Erykah Badu.

DM: Favorite phone app?

M: NYT Games.

DM: Favorite food/favorite restaurant?

M: Greek food! Pastitsio, Greek beef pasta bake (think Greek lasagna but replace the cheese with béchamel) from Steve the Greek’s in Quincy Market. 

DM: If you could only watch one, which would you choose: Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, Revolution?

M: Red Sox! The rest of the sports are basically the same game with different equipment.

DM: In one sentence, how do you feel about A.I.?

M: “Burn them all!” –Aerys Targaryen