What If?
A Nashoba Brooks humanities teacher reflects on the other side of the curriculum:
“I feel envious of the opportunities the students have here in terms of math and science courses. I see how much individual attention they get, and how exciting the teachers make it. Science didn't come naturally to me the way writing and talking did. Since my dad is a historian and linguist, and my mother is a musician and writer, when we talked at the dinner table it would be about a book or what was happening in the news, but not about scientific things. As for math, I always felt that was something I just wanted to get done so that I could get on to other things.
“But now I wonder — how would things have been different if I had gone to a school like Nashoba Brooks? I think, had that been, it would have been in my mind that science and math are subjects that are really interesting. This is especially important for girls, and here they see how connected to their lives science and math can be. Many of the teachers I had for those subjects did not make them come to life, and they felt so dead to me. When I look at what students are doing here, it's clear that this is really life—just as when I talk about a book or in social studies I want students to know that it's real and connects to what's happening today. Our science and math teachers make sure that students leave Nashoba Brooks knowing that these subjects are fun, interesting, and relevant not only to them but to the making of a better world.”
