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Photo courtesy of Natalia Bieszczad (10-4)
After Mr. Neale announced his retirement and his last day approached, students worried about who would take over his iconic English class. On January 25th, after a loving goodbye from Masterman, he stepped out of room 103 for the last time and passed his keys on to the teacher that would fill his spot. Frightened but excited to meet their new teacher, his students returned to 103 the next day to be welcomed by the science-fiction, national park, and ice cream loving, Ms. Rendsburg.
The sudden change has been shocking for students and staff. On her first day, Ms. Rendsburg encouraged her students to write letters describing their emotions following the change. She shares “I have those comments and emotional states in mind when I come into the classroom,” explaining her hopes for establishing comfort in the classroom and a connection with her students, understanding that this might be difficult at first.
Ms. Rendsburg attended Henry M. Gunn High School, a high achieving school in Palo Alto, California, so she understands what it is like being a Masterman student. She explains, “I know these kids, I got them, because I was one of them,” the challenges and stresses of a Masterman student are not foreign to her. Once she graduated high school, she went to UC Davis for her undergraduate degree, getting a bachelors in English and minor in education. Finally, she got her masters in English education from Columbia Teachers’ College and began teaching.
When I asked Ms. Rendsburg when she realized she wanted to teach she responded quickly in six words, “Twelfth grade, AP language, Mr. Dunlap.” She fondly recalls the class and her teacher, who became a model for her own teaching. The joy Mr. Dunlap emitted while teaching made Ms. Rendsburg think, “Wouldn’t it be really cool if I could just sit and talk about books for a job?” At first, Ms. Rendsburg thought she was going to be a neurobiology major because that was what her father had done. However, after interning at his company she quickly realized that she enjoyed editing the papers much more than the actual job. That semester was her last studying neurobiology before she switched to English. Being able to bring deep philosophical questions to her students through literature is what draws Ms. Rendsburg to the classroom. She describes high school as an “electrifying” time when students first encounter these ideas, that adults have been trying to find the answers to for years, and try to work through them.
Although Ms. Rendsburg cannot say high school was the best time of her life, she has lots of great memories and lifelong friendships that have bloomed from this time to shape her into who she is today. Her favorite extracurricular activity was improv club. Once a week the club would get together for an hour's worth of improv games. After sitting and watching through several meets, a friend had pressured her to go on stage and improv with him and she never looked back. “It was where I learned how to not be shy, how to completely express myself, and not care as much of what other people thought of me.” Ms. Rendsburg’s senior year was a particular highlight. It was when she made most of her friends who she is still in touch with today. The “Jew crew” - as they called themselves - meets each year to do a “crew union” bringing Ms. Rendsburg lots of joy and also a reason to go to California each year.
Ms. Rendsburg has lived all over the U.S. She was born in Nashville, after which her family moved to Indiana till she was nine, and then to California for her teenage years. She also lived in New York City for a while before moving to Philly. Although she loves the outdoors and openness, she loves the city and the possibility of not having to own a car even more. She spends most of her time with her two daughters but during her free time she enjoys singing with the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia. Other of her hobbies include making jewelry, cooking, exploring national parks, and reading science fiction/fantasy books. Her dream class is a science fiction/fantasy based one which she was able to teach for eight years at Brooklyn Tech and hopes to be able to bring to Masterman as well. She says it is an incredibly well-crafted genre that “gives those of us who have had enough of the real world a space to rest and reimagine our lives- and even open our eyes to possibilities for ourselves we didn't know existed” thanks to its level of escapism. These types of books allow Ms. Rendsburg to engage her students and achieve her ultimate goal as an English teacher - “to have my students, at the end of the year, say that they understood themselves a little better than when they started.”
*Shoutout from Ms. Rendsburg to Ms. Monica Rowley. The two were colleagues of ten years at Brooklyn Tech and are now being reunited.
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