Ms. Volpe Returns to Proctor

Math interventionist Ms. Volpe may be new to students, but she is not new to Proctor Jr/Sr High School. You may not know it, but Ms. Volpe was once a science teacher at PrHS from 2012-2017.  

She says she enjoys working at Proctor and particularly likes, “The students. I also really like hearing the band in the morning when I get here and I like how clean and fresh the school is.” 

Ms. Volpe originally came to Vermont to work at a different school. “In 1999 I moved to Vermont to work at a wilderness school …in Benson, VT.  It was very challenging at times. In winter we had to heat the spaces we were in with wood that we chopped ourselves.  What I liked about it was that you got to know the students and your coworkers extremely well because you had to work together all day,  doing chores, schoolwork, cooking meals, and playing games.”  

She then decided to get her science license, which brought her to PrHS. After her first five years at Proctor, she decided to make the transition to Orwell where she taught both science and math for the past six years.

But Proctor called her back. “ I really like the size of the school and all of the students and teachers were generous and very welcoming towards me,” Ms Volpe says. Now she focuses solely on math, which can be a struggle for some people. “I think the challenges are having so many…skills (to learn) and not knowing what one to spend your time on.  And students need to give themselves some more credit in the work they do and have more confidence in themselves.”

One thing Ms. Volpe says she likes about teaching is, “Learning, anything, everything. Talking about ideas makes me feel most alive, like when a student works past their frustration and they get that light-bulb moment. ” 

When she is not teaching math, you can find her doing several other things. “Outside of school my favorite thing to do is sit quietly with my little dog Cara curled up by my ankles while I read with a snack and a cup of coffee.  I also enjoy taking in the view of wide open fields and Brandon Gap from my backyard.  Jogging regularly is also really important to me,” she says.

If you have not yet met Ms. Volpe, you can often find her helping out in Ms. Ryan's room.