Hi, I’m Jonah
I am a passionate educator dedicated to developing and implementing curricula and programs that improve the world. I want to find the best ways to inspire others to apply their talents for good and explore how we can protect and create a positive future.
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This portfolio details my experience, education, and interest as I seek projects, collaborators, and community!
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My Story
I have always loved teaching and learning. Growing up in Rochester, NY I embraced leadership opportunities in sports, youth group, and school and could not find a subject I did not enjoy understanding more about. In college I dove into math and biology while also developing my interests in all things outdoors. I explored academic research, but found I wanted to prioritize connection and relationships and soon turned my attention to education.
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A year working in college access and then another in educational technology entrepreneurship gave me a broad tour of the world of teaching. It was direct work with students that excited me most, so I took a full-time teaching role. For three years I balanced this work with additional experiences in curriculum design and innovation.
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During these years I often found myself overwhelmed and depressed by the tragedies facing young people and their families. Joining communities engaged in thoughtfully doing good helped me act on these feelings productively and working with the career consulting organization 80,000 Hours launched me on an ongoing journey of research, conversation, discernment, and reflection that helped me clarify my goal for the next phase of my career: I want to develop the skills and connections required to create and implement curriculum that prepares students to have a positive impact on the world around them and our collective future.
My Teaching
I first developed my personal brand and pedagogy as an educator as an overnight and soccer camp counselor. In these contexts, meaningful connection through fun became the bedrock for my stance towards teaching. As a reading tutor in college and as a STEM program leader through AmeriCorps, I learned to establish strong bonds with students through academics and college preparation. I found that I loved sharing my passion for the beauty of mathematics, the pragmatism of science, and the power of philosophy with students while also inviting them to join me in bringing our whole selves to academic spaces and continually connecting these subjects to our own growth and development.
When I eventually had my own high school math and science classes, I designed my curriculum around three deep learning principles: transferability, interconnectedness, and self-consciousness. I always wanted students to see their learning as useful for their lives, either through practical applications or in rich metaphors that helped them better understand their world. I also sought to bring together various subjects, helping students see how the knowledge that they create resists traditional academic silos. And third, my work with students always brought them into frame. Through metacognitive work, storytelling, and sharing, I wanted students to see and guide how they were learning and changing as it happened.
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Building this infrastructure for crafting curriculum on top of my existing foundational belief in centering connection helped me combine rigor and relationships in my teaching. I believe that deep, durable learning requires inviting students into communities that acknowledge and respect who they are while also inspiring and challenging them to continue to change.
