This year, Princeton Day School welcomes Marina MacDonald as the new Math Department Chair and math teacher to many students. Coming from Tunisia, she teaches Honors Geometry and Accelerated Algebra II.
Ms. MacDonald first started her teaching journey at Souhegan High School in New Hampshire. During her time there, she won two highly prestigious awards-the Siemens Award which she earned because her students were consistently getting high scores on the AP exams and a teacher recognition award, the Milken National Educator Award. This led her to becoming a consultant where she would go to different schools to help develop their math and technology instruction. During this time, she was offered a job to teach in Panama and later in Tunisia and helped build the schools’ math, teaching, and learning curriculum. She commented that her experiences “expanded my knowledge of math instruction in the world.”
She chose to work at PDS after her time working abroad in Panama and Tunisia. When looking for jobs in the States, she mentioned, “I found this community to be really compassionate and empathetic,” inspiring her interest to work at the school. Coming from international schools, she valued diversity of all backgrounds which she recognized in the community here. When transitioning into PDS, she felt a strong sense of community and culture. From the dedication of the faculty to friendliness of the environment, she knew this was the place for her.
Ms. MacDonald knew she wanted to become a math teacher from a very young age. She is the fifth generation female teacher in her family; however, this was not the only reason she became a teacher. She said that she always loved math and that her peers would always tell her that she has a “really unique way of doing and explaining math.” She strongly believes that everyone has the potential of becoming a mathematician because there is no one way of doing it or understanding it.
Throughout the course of 25 years of teaching, one thing she learned is that every student is different. She explains her goal as a teacher “is less about the content and more about helping students inquire passionately about something,” as she describes how we are in school to learn how to learn.
Furthermore, she leaves students with two pieces of advice: “Keep doors open to trying new things. It’s never too late.” As she describes, even though being in high school comes with the pressures of having to know who you have to be, it is still important to take risks and be open-minded.
