up about grades and college transcripts. Most importantly, ninth grade can be a difficult year of transition for kids, and teaching ninth graders gives me the opportunity to help them through the challenges they face. When they walk into class, I always greet them by name, look into their eyes and try my best to see how they’re doing. While I’m fully prepared, everything I do in class depends on what I see in my students in that moment. To teach is to notice.
Do you have an overarching goal as a teacher? I want my students to learn, to laugh and to know that they’re loved. Do you have a favorite area of focus? School life provides an abundance of experiences that I’m grateful for every day. My favorite “area of focus” is my time with the kids, whether it’s giving them extra help, understanding their struggles, watching them compete and perform, or witnessing them blossom in ways we may have never imagined. Witnessing their growth at this formative time in their lives kind of takes my breath away. Have you changed much as an educator over the years? My mantra in schoolwork and business remains the same. How can I, or we, do this differently and better? I never stop trying to answer this question, and I hope it continues to improve everything that I do. What are the greatest rewards of your work? My time with the kids is my greatest reward. I’ve come to a point in my life when I know that spending 30 minutes with a student is more valuable to me than receiving a big check from a yearlong real estate negotiation.
Whitney FitzPatrick ’09 Special education math teacher Denver School of Science and Technology Cole High School Denver, Colo. After teaching two years in the Bronx with Teach for America, Whitney FitzPatrick sought new opportunities closer to the mountains where she likes to hike and ski. She took a position last August with Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) Public Schools in Denver, Colo., as a special education teacher in an inner-city public charter school with a STEM focus. She teaches high school math and helps teachers serve all students equitably. She also has an advisory of ninth grade boys that will stay together all four years. Whitney graduated from Dartmouth in 2013 with a B.A. in environmental studies and a minor in international studies. While
Whitney FitzPatrick ’09 with two students on an environmental science field trip.
working in New York City, she earned a Master of Education at Fordham University with a focus on special education for grades seven through 12.
Why did you apply to Teach for America? I graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in environmental studies and, while there, started a club that created curriculum for and coordinated a farm-to-school program at a local elementary school. I had ideas of working in the environmental sector but didn’t want to jump into a corporate job so soon after college, or maybe ever. I applied to Teach for America and was placed in New York City. Teaching in a failing public middle school in the Bronx was, hopefully, the hardest thing I will ever do, but I’m so happy I stuck with it. I teach special education, meaning I work with students with mild to moderate learning and emotional disabilities, and I focus on math and science. Teaching special education was an accident; Teach for America schedules your interviews, and there is a huge need for special educators in this country. Although it’s challenging at times, I’m happy I teach special education because it has become a true passion of mine to help those students who need it the most. What were your responsibilities with Teach for America? With Teach for America, I was a middle school special education teacher. I taught both self-contained (smaller class, only students with disabilities) as well as integrated co-teaching classes with a general education teacher. My classes were almost entirely male, and the students hadn’t been held to high expectations. Since I taught them two consecutive years, I was able to form positive relationships with them and get them to pass the eighth grade, but it was a challenge. How do you approach teaching and learning? I love learning, reading and challenging myself to present information to my students in new and engaging ways. I think a lot of this came from my Westminster education. My teachers were always coming up with
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