Stellar Middle School Leadership—Hannah Schafer

Middle School is always a hub of activity. One of the things that makes our Middle School such a gem is that its students are fully integrated into the whole Newman experience, and yet they get to inhabit special intimate spaces both within the building, at assembly time, and within their own 7th/8th grade classes. This gives students a comfortable sense of home from which they venture out to interact with older students and to use the city as their campus, and to which they can always return. The other gem of Newman’s Middle School is its firecracker leader, Hannah Schafer. 

Hannah formally started her teaching career through Teach for America (TFA), one of the most competitive teaching placements to get right out of college. Knowing Hannah’s energy, and recently learning about her background, it is no surprise that she was chosen for TFA. Hannah was raised on a boarding school campus, where being curious and making connections with people from around the world were reinforced from an early age. She loved living in an intentional community where she was able to investigate and pursue a diversity of activities, such as ceramics, theater, soccer, and swimming.

Having taught and worked in a wide variety of settings from TFA’s placement in Lawrence Public Schools, to a multi-age classroom on Peak’s Island, Maine, to a boys' summer camp, Hannah has demonstrated adaptability, creativity, and a love for teaching that seems to transcend any particular type of location or program. Hannah’s inspiration and drive are well represented in one of her favorite quotes: “(k)ids deserve an excited adult. They need someone who’s ready to explore and laugh with them all day….ready to surround them with love, encouragement, and hope.”  While this quote was shared with her from a team leader during a stint of Covid 19 on-line teaching, Hannah comes back to it everyday. She feels that above all else her job is to “make students feel special, cared for, and important.” For her, “there is no better way to do this than talk with and listen to kids.” In fact one of her favorite parts of every day is when kids come running in with stories or successes from outside of Newman. Hannah’s love of connecting through ideas and stories extends beyond her work day when she loves spending long, long family-style meals talking with friends. She also loves reading, cooking, listening to live music, and swimming outside as late into the season as possible—making new “freezing!?” memories to, in turn, share with and inspire others!

 

 

 

Beyond Hannah’s ability to be a great teacher and mentor for each of her students, she has also proven herself to be an educational visionary. In particular, she is inspired by how students and curriculum can come together to create possibilities for change and social justice. She enjoys her Service in Action class for this reason—both guiding individual students through service learning and also creating a sense of class community and the agency that comes with it. This Service as Action course has huge growth potential in terms of using the city as our campus. Already, this year’s 7th grade is investigating food insecurity in Boston—volunteering at organizations like Food for Free and Community Servings; 8th graders are investigating housing insecurity in the city and will create their own connections with organizations centered around solving this issue. Hannah is excited about solidifying connections between Newman and Boston in a meaningful, Cor ad Cor way for many years to come, and there is no doubt that she has the skills and passion to make this happen. We are very lucky to have such a wise, warm, and dynamic Dean of Newman’s 7th and 8th grades.