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Photographed by Theo Wyss-Flamm (12-4)
Ms. Tracy Tooke, a new Health and Physical Education teacher at Masterman, has always had a love of sports. She went to Marple Newtown High School after growing up in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania and attended Ohio’s Kent State University for two years after graduating, where she participated in three Division 1 sports: field hockey, basketball, and tennis. She transitioned to Auburn University as a junior with a liberal arts major to become a better tennis player and got involved in the Southern Connecticut Conference, a strong tennis program that facilitated many of her tennis-related endeavors. When she graduated, she got a Bachelor’s degree in English, although most of her adult life was spent on the tennis court as she taught at a variety of different schools, including George Washington University, Westchester University, and Temple University. Due to her strong background in sports, coaching tennis immediately after graduating was an easily achievable feat for her.
Later, when she was pregnant with her son, she decided that she should find a position that did not require her to travel as often as she did for college tennis that would also provide a more stable source of income for her family. She earned her teaching certification and transitioned into education at the age of 45. When she first got involved with education in the school district, she recalls, “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I thought that becoming a Health and Phys. Ed. teacher in the Philadelphia School District would come naturally, but as a 45 year old it really was a lot tougher than I thought.” As of now, she has been working in the district for 14 years.
Before coming to Masterman, she worked at Crossroads Academy, an alternative setting for students with behavioral issues in grades 1-6. She describes her experience as "heart wrenching," because she discovered that many of her students did not have much family support due to the incarceration or substance abuse of relatives. She explains that "the only structure [the students] have is when they come to school… they come with things that I had never seen at that age. There was a lot of disrespect and antisocial behavior between themselves and towards teachers, which I had never experienced before… at times I almost walked out, but as a single parent I couldn’t afford to." She says that she has learned so much from those children, and refers to them as "little souls who just want to know that they matter." Her partner, Lisa Rafter, remarks, “[Crossroads Academy] was a stressful and draining environment. I could see that she was often pretty wiped out at the end of the day. She had great colleagues, though, and they made a supportive system for each other and they still talk and laugh to this day. That was the thing that kept them all going.”
Ms. Rafter owns a publishing business known as RAM Group Holdings which issues four financial magazines. She and Ms. Tooke met at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend, where they discovered that they both have sons with only a four-month age difference. Ms. Tooke’s son, Sean, is a freshman at Lower Merion High School. Ms. Rafter’s son, Ivan (known at home as Vanya), was adopted from an orphanage in Moscow at the age of four and currently attends the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU). Ms. Rafter describes him as “... big and funny and kind and loves to help people. He’s proud of being Russian. When I met him I knew what a difference it would be for him to have a home, and that he would have a great chance at life if he came with me.” She expresses that she and Ms. Tooke have a sustainable partnership together because they each have a son and often help each other with the responsibilities of parenting. “I own my business, which gives me stability, and when I travel [Ms. Tooke] can help me out with my son,” she specifies.
The biggest change Ms. Tooke has found in her transition to Masterman is the pressing work demand. “There’s so much to do from the minute I get here to the minute I leave. I have about 33 students [per class], while I’ve been used to teaching about 10 (in a setting where the class schedule was not as intense). Working with the students at my previous school was intense with fighting and antisocial behavior... Here, the challenge is that there’s so much on my schedule. The on-the-go schedule is demanding here, right down to having three minutes to get to your next class and traveling in-between classrooms is a little rough.” She is, however, enthusiastic and optimistic for her coming years at Masterman. She emphasizes, “Having the opportunity to be around young people and being a part of their ambitions, their aspirations, and their failures is really special and to be an influencer as well as a facilitator in their development is really cool. The students here have so many commitments and things [they] want to do, and to be a part of that generation who’s going to be leading the world as [they] graduate is exciting.”
Although Ms. Tooke no longer plays three different sports in her everyday life, she has mastered overcoming challenges, and she is undeniably prepared for her new role.
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