This fall, the halls of Edison High School are met with an influx of new faces. Amongst these new faces are new teachers who hope to jumpstart their teaching careers. This 2021-2022 school year, EHS has teaching interns across various disciplines.  

Kean University student Ms. Nimra Jamshed is starting her teaching career learning from Ms. Shelly Colletto in the art department.

“Everyone in the school kind of reaches out to the art room, like the phys ed people, the choir, the science people.  Everyone can be doing something incorporated within the art wing, so I really like that it creates a sense of community,” said Jamshed.

Jamshed has always had an affinity for art, and teaching has always interested her. “I really like working with children,” she said, “and I really wanted to be one of those teachers who made an influence on their students.” 

She said that her interest in art goes back to her own time at school. “I always looked forward to that class. I was always creative, and had that skill that I really enjoyed, so I stuck with it through college.”

On the opposite end of the building, Ramapo University student teacher Mr. Andrew Mitchell has been assigned to the history department with Mr. Howard Manson. He shared a similar experience of always knowing his passion.

“History is like…the textbook that I actually read as a high school student. It was essentially the only thing I considered studying when I went to college,” Mitchell said.

Kean University student Mr. Gabriel Batista also came to the history department this year, working with Mr. Mike Glackin. Unlike Jamshed and Mitchell, whose paths always included teaching their subjects, Batista did not want to do so at first. He actually intended on a computer science major before realizing that his true passion was teaching.

Being a student teacher, Batista has learned that with the highs, there are lows. One of the difficult parts of teaching was lesson planning: “[We have] a hundred fifty kids probably…so, it’s a lot of lesson planning and that’s the one thing I’ve really learned.”  

Mitchell shared a different perspective than his fellow educators, having entered the teaching field later in life.

“I had debated becoming a teacher for some time, as I graduated college and am a bit older than some of the student teachers,” he said. “I kept not applying to the programs to become a teacher because of work, life, whatever, and the pandemic happened. Like a lot of people, our lives got flipped upside down. It has been something I considered for years.” 

Despite all three teachers starting from different positions, with different aspirations, they all have ended up in the halls of Edison High. From changing majors to life events, obstacles emerged but these teachers prevailed.

As much as the high school is offering a platform for these students teachers, these interns in turn can provide some insight for high school students ready for college and career, especially upperclassmen looking to join the field of education.

“If you are presented with the opportunity to interact…or be a camp counselor. Do some type of summer program; something like that could be really helpful,” Mitchell said.