cognitive science; the history, culture, and social context of U.S. boarding schools; and how to develop a reflective, flexible teaching practice. Penn professors co-teach the courses with deans or senior faculty from the partner boarding schools. Though Penn fellows typically start the program right after college, a few of NMH’s fellows have worked for a year at other schools, and one, Brandon Hew, spent a year playing professional hockey. One of NMH’s newest fellows, Shaakira Raheem, had worked abroad, teaching English as a second language in Morocco and working for an international-study program in Ghana. Two fellows — Stockdale and Raheem — are midway through the program, and of the remaining 10, seven were hired as permanent faculty members after earning their degrees. They say they chose NMH not only because they wanted Penn fellows-turned-faculty members: (from left) Sally Komarek, Brandon Hew, Kristine Nakada, and Alex Braile. to work with teenagers and spend less money on grad school, but also because NMH felt differtalked with students,” Komarek says. who earned his master’s alongside ent to them than other schools they “You’re trying to figure out what good Nakada and now teaches economics. considered working at. “There are high teaching looks like.” “I was encouraged to speak up and expectations here, but it’s not cutIn the spring, Penn fellows contribute.” throat. NMH students are competing teach a class of their own. The second During their first fall at NMH, Penn with themselves, not with each other,” year they teach two classes each semesfellows assist in their mentor teacher’s says Kristine Nakada, who finished the ter. Meanwhile, they’re working on their classroom. History teacher Sally Penn program a year ago and was hired own grad-school projects and assignKomarek, another former Penn fellow, as a math teacher. “I never felt singled ments, which include collecting and worked with department chair Chris out as the new young guy who was analyzing data from their classrooms for Edler. “I watched everything she did — expected to sit quietly during departtheir thesis-like final research project. what she wrote on the board, how she ment meetings,” adds Tony Mantegani,
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