Kingswood Oxford has had the privilege of welcoming Upper School math teacher and girls swimming and diving Assistant Coach Emma Johnson to our community this fall.
Ms. Johnson attended Central Connecticut State University and received her Bachelor’s degree in secondary education in mathematics. During her time in college, she was placed at Maloney High School in Meriden as a student teacher, and for the past school year, she was a math tutor at a middle school.
When going through her middle school and early high school years, Ms. Johnson did not originally plan on being a teacher. “When I was in elementary school, I was always paired with a student with special needs,” Ms. Johnson said. The teacher helpers working with those students would always tell her how good of a teacher she would be, considering how accommodating she was with those classmates.
When entering her junior year, Ms. Johnson figured out that she wanted to do something surrounding math and went back and forth between teaching and accounting, but ultimately liked how she would have more freedom with her job as a teacher. “I started at a daycare when I turned 16,” she said. “They have age ranges between infants up until about 12 years old. I started off in the infant program and later worked my way up to the older kids. Most of the older kids have autism or ADHD so I got really close with a lot of them and I became that one person they would go to and at the end of the day that they felt connected to.” While teaching at KO, Ms. Johnson is also working towards receiving her Master’s in special education.
When originally visiting KO, Ms. Johnson felt extremely welcomed and as though everyone did want to meet her and welcome her to KO. So far, her time at KO has been very enjoyable. “Coming into the year with a week and two days of orientation for teachers, the schedule has helped to ease me in,” she said.
When preparing for the school year, Ms. Johsnon was very excited as she would be able to decorate her classroom following whatever theme and layout she chose. Over the summer, like many other people, Ms. Johnson was watching a lot of one of the most popular shows right now, Stranger Things. This inspired her to follow a more retro theme with some of her wall decorations.
Along with her retro decorations, she wanted to make her classroom feel welcoming and comfortable for all students. “I think that it has been helpful and I feel as though it has helped ease the transition into the new school for all of my students.”
As the year continues, Ms. Johnson is looking forward to seeing as many sports games as possible, specifically hockey. She cannot wait to see where the year takes her and looks forward to meeting more students and creating strong bonds as the year goes on.
