McKenna McFarlin has been pushed out of her comfort zone before and today she is learning right along with her St. Mary’s School kindergarteners.
“I grew up in a school district that was very much, hand the kid a worksheet, they do the worksheet, they learn the information — for kids now, they want to get up and play, especially in kindergarten,” said McFarlin, the new kindergarten teacher at SMS. “I’m learning with them as well to be able to turn the curriculum into games and activities that they can learn actively instead of sitting still.”
• With the heart of a writer, Sara Muscatello hopes to open a whole new world for her St. Mary’s School students through reading.
Muscatello is one of the new teachers at St. Mary’s and teachers third- and fourth-graders. She teaches 16 kids at SMS — 11 third-graders and five fourth-graders and said she works hard trying inspire students to read as much as possible.
“I think that’s so important; my daughter loves to read,” she said. “I tried to instill that in her; I hope the kids can find joy and happiness from books — I want them to open a book and be transported by it.”
See more in this week’s paper!