A Student Intern’s Academy Experience ROSE CURRIE ‘24
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eachers have the ability to change their students’ lives through the way that they teach. When I first heard about the opportunity to present my “Student Voice” during The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning’s Science of Teaching and School Leadership Academy in 2022, I was instantly intrigued. By witnessing the outcomes of teachers engaging with the science of learning, I became a more passionate learner myself. I experienced the Academy the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Before enrolling at St. Andrew’s, I attended a school where the teachers were not trained in the way the brain learns and the best ways to teach. I have found that my current teachers’ dedication to research-informed teaching has made me a dramatically better student and person. As a student who prefers when things
are presented visually, who can get distracted easily, and does not like to procrastinate, many things make me similar to, and at the same time different from, other students in my school and around the country. For these reasons, I find it blissful to know that my teachers are working hard to integrate the science of learning into their lesson plans. It makes me feel heard to know that my needs as a student are considered when my teachers are thinking about their lesson plans and how they will present their content. Throughout my experience as an intern during the CTTL’s Academy, I have seen some of my St. Andrew’s teachers, along with teachers from across the country and around the world, learn methods of teaching, question how they can improve their classroom environment, and then discuss the ways they will apply their new knowledge to help their students meet their full potential in the classroom. I was drawn
Before enrolling at St. Andrew’s, I attended a school where the teachers were not trained in the way the brain learns and the best ways to teach. I have found that my current teachers’ dedication to research-informed teaching has made me a dramatically better student and person. 6
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