#KnowYourPelicans: Sandra Fahy
Upper School History Teacher
What do you teach? What is one of your favorite parts of the curriculum?
I teach 9th Grade Foundations of World History, and several junior and senior electives, including Cultural Anthropology; Scientific and Historical Origins of Race and Gender; History of the Modern Middle East; and Genocide in the Modern World. I love teaching all of my electives, but I think I like Cultural Anthropology the most. This is partly because it's my background, but I also enjoy seeing students respond to a new disciplinary approach to studying the world. I love, too, reading their final projects, which are mini-ethnographic research projects on some aspect of New York City. Over the years, they've studied musicians in the subway, skateboarders' use of the built environment, and a fire station in Coney Island, among other topics. These projects can be really interesting.
Besides your subject, what's something you hope to teach your students?
I hope that they learn a little about perseverance and resilience when they experience setbacks or disappointments, and to realize that these disappointments aren't the end of the world. Instead, they're often the way we grow. Life is not always going to go the way we hope or want, but we usually come out ahead if we can learn from the lessons life gives us.
What is something that most Packer people wouldn't know about you?
Not many people knew prior to my lecture that I was a child of the military or that I had lived in ten places by the time I was eighteen. But people also don't realize that growing up in the military was so much more than the constant moves. It also meant that my dad was regularly "on deployment" for six-month periods, and as a result, he missed many of the milestones of my childhood, including my high school graduation. Sometimes, we didn't even know where in the world he was because we couldn't know for security reasons. And these were the days before email. But this was our normal, and we never thought twice about it.
If you were to have an inspirational fridge magnet (and we're not saying you would), what would it say and why?
I actually have a fridge magnet that says, "It is what it is." It's a phrase my mom always says, and it's a good reminder to worry only about the things in life over which I have control.
Previous Pelicans:
Kindergarten Teacher Anne Montero
Upper School Science Teacher Alice Lurain
World Languages Teacher Su-Ling Huang
Upper School Art Teacher Eric Baylin
Preschool Teacher Lynnette Arthur
Middle School English Teacher Todd Johnson
Physical Education Teacher and Coach Rich Domanico
Food Services Member Ann Martinez
Lower School Librarian Chris Rush
Upper School Computer Science Teacher Louis Minsky '09
Upper School History Teacher Monika Johnston
First Grade Teacher Irene Turner
Interim Chair of the Arts Department Ali Boag
Middle School Dean of Student Life and Health Teacher Bessie Oster
Fourth Grade Teacher Tim Jensen
Middle School Math Teacher Ashley Greene
Upper School Choral Director Esther Liu Harris
Upper School English Teacher Eric Weisberg
Facilities Staff Member Luciean Seaforth
Director of Global Outreach, Service, and Sustainability Tené Adero Howard '91
Administrative Assistant for Student Services, College Counseling Lydia Monzio
Lower School Associate Teacher Annabelle Baylin
Middle School Administrative Assistant César Ayala
Instrumental Music Coordinator Paul RiggioSecond Grade Teacher Sara Baumrin
Pre and Lower School Music Teacher Fran Onne-Fong
Physical Education and Health Teacher Dorothy Gurreri
Security Team Member Nick Griffith
Third Grade Head Teacher Joanna Stern
Middle School Math Teacher Colin Levitt
Upper School Science Teacher Lutz Holzinger
Pre and Lower School Admissions Coordinator Yvonne Menard
Upper School History Teacher George Snook
Middle School Science Teacher Stephanie Rapciak
Library Department Chair Andrew Parson
Pre and Lower School Assistant Head Joe McCauley
Permanent Substitute Teacher Rita Pavia
Instrumental Music Teacher Jeremy Udden
Food Services Team Member Shanique Hollis
Middle School History Teacher Vidya Misra
Head of School Dr. Bruce L. Dennis
Physical Education Department Head Pippa Mayell
Director of Middle and Upper School Admissions & Financial Aid Sheila Bogan