Firstly, we would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new teachers here at Newington High School: Mr. Palaia (World Language), Mr. Caplan (Science), Mrs. McKeown (Culinary), Ms. Simoes (Art), Mr. Stammen (Music), Mr. Courtemanche (Math), Mr. Famiglietti (Math), and Mr. Grossman (English). We appreciate all that you have done and will do for our school community. For this article, we asked each new teacher two questions: 

1) What made you want to be a teacher?

2) What is your favorite part of NHS so far? Here’s what our new teachers have to say to you:

Mr. Stammen said, “I had been teaching private voice lessons for years and always enjoyed teaching music, but because I'm an introvert, large groups of students scared me. I was encouraged to take a job music directing 70 middle school students in a production of The Little Mermaid, and found out that not only were large groups of students not terrifying, they were also a lot of fun. I got certified to teach soon after.”

Additionally, many staff members (such as Mr. Famiglietti and Mr. Palaia) grew up surrounded by relatives who were teachers and by influential school staff, who inspired them to go into the education field themselves. Mr. Courtemanche stated, “My mom is a preschool teacher and my dad works in IT, so becoming a computer science teacher was a blend of both of those worlds. I also had teachers when I was in high school who inspired me to take this path.”

Moreover, numerous new teachers (including Ms. Simoes and Mr. Stammen) developed a passion for a subject throughout their lives - art and music - and were moved to spread that knowledge and love to students.

Mr. Grossman is one of the new staff members joining the NHS community this year as an English teacher. Fun fact: his teaching in Connecticut means that he has taught in all of the states in the U.S., starting with the letter C! Mr. Grossman sees himself as a practical and loyal person who is also very serious. If he could have any supernatural ability, he would want to have telekinesis. With this, he would be able to move himself, his kids, and make small stressors more streamlined and easy to deal with.

Mr. Brodeur, a new science teacher, is coming to NHS after working for East Hartford schools for 23 years.  But he's no stranger to the Newington community.  As a graduate of Buckley High School in Hartford, Newington was his "sister school" so he is happy to rejoin the community here with fellow Buckley graduate, Mrs. Toni. He is excited to work with NHS students while also juggling a teaching job at Manchester Community College.

We also spoke to Ms. Rodriguez, a new special educator, and Ms. Barbieri, our new school psychologist who both discussed their excitment in working with new students and joining the NHS family.  Ms. Rodriguez has been in education for four years while Ms. Barbieri is a recent graduate of the University of Hartford.

Each new teacher echoed one another in the fact that they collectively appreciate and enjoy the school community, especially the students that they strive to see improve and grow each day. Furthermore, the collective staff has been phenomenal in helping the new teachers acclimate to our culture and environment. They have been most welcoming and kind.

Our recently recruited teachers -- thank you for joining our family of learners! We are excited to get to know you better!