After graduating from Denison with a major in classics and a minor in women’s studies, Karyn Greene ’12 found herself teaching Latin in Vermont. Although she was teaching the subject she loved, Greene longed to get back to her roots. “I wanted to go back to Boston,” she said, “and the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) program seemed like the best avenue for all my goals.”
The program is a yearlong initiative focused on providing teachers with graduate-level classes and in-classroom experiences in preparation for teaching in Boston. “They combat the quick turnaround that happens to teachers in the city schools,” Greene explained. BTR has even been recognized by President Obama as a national model of teacher education.
For Greene it’s simply a dream come true. “I knew by eighth grade that I wanted to be a teacher. Right now I’m teaching English, but I plan to keep teaching classics after the program.”
Classics have been Greene’s passion since youth, when she took Latin for six years and was captivated by its history and culture. “Classics were really just what I wanted to study,” she enthused. “I had a zeal for it in high school, but I wanted deeper knowledge and to explore the things I love in college.”
Garrett Jacobsen, associate professor and chair of the classics department, remembers Greene’s zest for classics. “Karyn’s passion for Latin and enthusiasm for the classical world were obvious as a student at Denison.”
When Greene heads back to the classroom next time, she’ll be even more prepared to teach her students, while understanding that teaching itself is a lifelong learning process. Or as the Latin phrase has it, “docendo discimus.” We learn by teaching.