SJC welcomes multiple new teachers this year
Mrs. Nguyen
With the new school year comes new teachers and this year we welcome Mrs. Nguyen to St. John’s as the new honors and AP Biology teacher.
Mrs. Nguyen grew up in Southern California, she attended the University of California Riverside as well as the University of Southern California receiving a bachelors of science in biology and a masters in teaching.
What brought mrs. Nguyen to St. Johns and D.C. were her and her husband’s job opportunities.
She is looking forward to getting to know her students and fellow faculty members, as well as getting back to school and utilizing the school’s labs to perform experiments and labs with her students.
Teaching at a new school can be difficult, but with the added stress of virtual learning it is nearly impossible. Mrs. Nguyen has taken this experience as an opportunity to become more creative in the way she facilitates learning for her students. It has also given her the opportunity to use more technology and to learn about new ways to teach material to her students.
Outside of teaching she has a lot of fun hobbies. Mrs. Nguyen enjoys watching movies, spending time with her family, and photography in her free time.
Ms. Rosser
Ms. Rosser just joined the English Department at St. John’s and is excited to be a part of the community. The new staff member is teaching British Literature and Honors British Literature to juniors. She is so happy to be teaching and is “so excited to be here and meet all my students!”
Ms. Rosser has wanted to teach English for a while. She has a love for reading and writing, and also finds great purpose in being an educator. “I had great teachers growing up, but more importantly, I feel education is a great way to make an impact.” Ms. Rosser strives towards developing her students into kind people and helping them as best she can.
She is originally from Florence, SC and recently graduated from Princeton University. She even wrote a novel for her senior thesis. She is very passionate about literature. In her future here at SJC, Ms. Rosser said, “I hope I can help develop my students’ love for creative writing.” Class activities have already included creative writing, something that Ms. Rosser hopes to continue in the classroom as well as focusing on in her personal life.
Ms. Matthew
This Fall, SJC welcomed a new face to the Math Department, Ms. Matthew. She teaches Pre-Calculus to the rising seniors of the class of 2021. Ms. Matthew grew up and lived most of her life in Long Island, but then decided to come D.C.
What she misses most about Long Island is the close beach and pizza. She had previously worked at three different American international schools before coming to SJC. Ms. Matthew states that teaching internationally has been the most interesting job she’s had so far. She said, “Ot has opened so many opportunities to travel personally and professionally.”
Her biggest draw to SJC was the strong sense of a diverse and committed community she got when she first spoke to people here. Although we haven’t officially gotten back in the classroom, Ms. Matthew feels welcomed by her students and faculty already. However, beginning new and starting virtually has brought some challenges Ms. Matthew’s way.
With not being able to meet students in person makes it hard to build relationships right away, but she feels that everyone has been nice, helpful, and supportive. Ms. Matthew expresses that she can’t wait to meet everyone and finally have class discussions in person. She plans on helping her students become fully engaged and build their confidence in executing and communicating mathematics. She hopes to make opportunities to grow, reflect, and learn through processes of collaboration and self-discovery.
Other than teaching, Ms. Matthews enjoys coaching/playing volleyball and basketball, reading, bike riding, learning new skills, etc. She also loves spending good quality time with her nieces and nephews.
