By Marc Tamer, Year 10
Ms. Newman is the current head of the science department and she is also a Chemistry teacher here at LGB. Ms. Newman has had many years of experience around the world teaching at different schools with different programs. She is a dedicated teacher who cares deeply about the education of her students, while keeping the class an amazing, safe place for students to flourish in their learning endeavours. It is always a pleasure to be in her class! It is clear that Ms. Newman is a passionate teacher that really enjoys both her subject and teaching. Unfortunately, this will be Ms. Newman’s last year of teaching as she will be taking retirement, explaining that “it is better to finish on a high note, rather than keep on pushing it and finish on a low note”.
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May you please tell me a bit about yourself? Where and what did you study?
Ms. Newman started off her journey as a high school graduate, after she taking Maths, Chemistry and Biology for her A-levels in her school in London. After graduating she moved on to studying Pharmacology at London University. For her professional year out, she worked for a pharmaceutical company in Basel. At this moment, her work became very resource-heavy. After a while, Ms. Newman started to find that “research was too lonely” and wanted to move to working for a role that is more involved in society. This is when Ms. Newman decided to become a teacher, because “I enjoyed school, so why not become a teacher”. Ms. Newman underwent training to become a teacher, and started teaching at the age of 25. She started teaching in London and then taught in Dublin, York, Brussels (European school) and Maastricht. Then, in 2017, Ms. Newman came to Geneva and has been teaching here at Ecolint for 7 years; this was the only private school she taught at and will be the last school she will teach at. In total, Ms Newman has 40 years of teaching experience in many different programs!
What are you truly passionate about and why?
Ms. Newman is truly passionate about many things. Firstly, History is one of Ms. Newman’s biggest passions; she spends a lot of her time reading, discussing, and thinking about History. She explains that “to make the world a better place and move forward we need to have knowledge of what happened before”. Another one of Ms. Newman’s big passions is gardening, “I just love the process of new life coming out of the soil, it’s like magic”. Ms Newman also has a passion for Science, which clearly developed during her teaching years.
What subjects did you enjoy growing up?
Growing up, Ms. Newman really liked History and Physical Education. For her final three subjects she ended up choosing Maths, Biology, and Chemistry, without much of a reason except for genuine interest. This had a big impact on her studies at university and on her future.
What do you like about Ecolint?
Ms. Newman really loves the diversity here at Ecolint. This does not only apply to the student population, but also to the adults and teachers. It is really something special!
What is truly special about teaching?
The really special thing about teaching for Ms. Newman is the fact that you are giving the students access to tools that they need for the rest of their lives, you are giving students a purpose in life and in the world. It is an extremely important role in society! She explains that “you are giving the students a tool box that they will carry around for the rest of their lives.”.
Have you ever had to adapt your style of teaching over the years?
Ms. Newman finds that her general approach to teaching has stayed the same throughout her journey as a teacher, and that “even my students would agree with me”. Despite this fact, Ms. Newman thinks that she has made a lot of progress as a teacher and is certainly a better teacher now than when she started out.
What is a good education?
To Ms. Newman, a good education is a well-rounded one. An example of this is taking all three sciences in Year 11. A well-rounded education is very important to enable a student to keep as many doors as open as possible for the longest time possible. A good education is all about, fundamentally, enabling students to think critically. It is really one of the most important goals of education, especially at Ecolint!
What role do technology and AI play in education?
Ms. Newman thinks it is critically important that technology is only used in science either to enable teaching or to assist in experimental work. “In my class, students hardly have their laptops out, and I think in most cases it is the best way to learn.” AI should not be used as something to do your learning for you, but only to assist in the learning process.
What are your retirement plans?
In Ms. Newman’s retirement, she looks forward to spending a lot more family time with her two sons and her husband, but she also has many travel plans, and “the first one on the list seems to be New Zealand”. There are also plans for her to spend many wonderful hours restoring her garden in her house in York. I look forward most of all to finally not having a structured day. “I want to do what I want, when I want”.
What did you like about being a teacher?
Being a teacher for Ms. Newman was extremely rewarding, but also very exhausting, as you have to be very patient. Overall, she doesn’t regret her decision and has really enjoyed all of her 40 years as a science teacher.
Has being a teacher changed the way you think about your subject?
Ms. Newman finds that teaching did not really change her overall view of Chemistry, but that the more she taught it, the more passionate she became about it. Her attitude towards Chemistry has definitely changed over the years.
What will you miss about Ecolint?
At Ecolint, what Ms. Newman will miss most of all, is being a teacher and a part of the lovely community she is surrounded by. Teaching at Ecolint has really been an experience to remember.
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Ms. Newman is a truly amazing teacher and even with only three months of learning with her, she has completely blown me away. She completely changed my attitude towards Chemistry and allowed me to think about Chemistry in a wholly different way, in a much bigger way. She made me very curious about the subject and helped me to find a love and passion for the subject. She also keeps on reminding all of her Year 10 students the importance of taking three sciences in Year 11 to keep the most doors open, which has inspired me to take all the three natural sciences next year. Ms. Newman is a teacher who shows extreme levels of dedication towards her students, treating all of her students as an opportunity, and never as a liability. She is able to find ways to let all students of different levels in one class reach their maximum potential by providing all of them with the educational support that they need. Ms. Newman prepares her students well for assessments, and makes sure they have strong bases in order to move forward.
I think I speak on behalf of our whole Ecolint community when I thank you, Ms. Newman, for all of your years of service here at Ecolint and to remind you that as a teacher, you have helped hundreds of students flourish and realise their educational potential!
Ms. Newman truly is an unforgettable teacher!
