As a school counselor, I strive to foster resiliency, social/emotional preparedness, educational equity, access, & educational success amongst my scholars to ensure that all graduate from high school with the proper tools necessary to succeed in higher education and in life.
I believe every child is unique and brings a special component to the school environment. Every child has the ability to learn and become the best version of themselves through perseverance and nurturing from their families & educators.
This is the philosophy I have led with during my 14-year career as a school counselor for middle school students. I am proud to have served 13 of those years served here at M.S 118, and I look forward to serving many more alongside our students and families.
My drive and passion have always centered around helping families and children. I am very passionate about empowering the youth to look beyond their scope through the lens of strength perspective.
My name is Frances Rodriguez, and I am the Students in Temporary Housing Bridging the Gap Social Worker at William W. Niles School. As such, I am here to help support our scholars with their social, emotional, physical, and academic needs. One of my main priorities is to bridge gaps that exist between home, school, and community in order to foster a positive learning environment. I believe it is essential that every scholar and family should have adequate access to resources that will benefit them in school and society. I look forward to working with our scholars and their families this new school year.
Many students are unsure of who they are and even more unsure of who they want to be. I believe that my job is to help cultivate the culture in the classroom that lends itself to the “ah- ha” moments. Whether it be that students are understanding a concept, a big idea or the fact that education is key to growth, I aim to maximize the moments in which students realize that they want to be educated, motivated, contributing members of society, and it is my strong belief that the path to that type of enlightenment lies in education.
As a speech language pathologist at MS 118, it is my professional mission to support students with communication disorders. I am committed to helping to promote effective communication skills so that students are able to express themselves in the academic setting and beyond while reaching their maximum potential. It is my goal to help students succeed in a supportive, respectful, fun, learning environment specific to individual needs and development.
When I started teaching 21 years ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be sitting here wearing a mask, not worrying so much about engaging my students as I am about not letting them breathe on me.
A few years ago, I had a particularly difficult student who was an extremely reluctant reader. After reading “Of Mice and Men” and moving on to other aspects of the ELA curriculum, Reggie raised his hand and said, “Yo, Mr. Donohue, when are we gonna read more Steinbeck?” Since that day, I’ve used that comment as both solace when I’m feeling unappreciated (does the word “effective” on an observation suck the life out of anyone else like it does me?) but also as motivation to keep doing what I know I do best, which is to open my students’ eyes to the reasons that great literature is called great literature, and to show them that a good book can compete with a good video game.
I graduated from NYU’s Educational Theatre program in 2016. Since then, I’ve been working to bring theater, entertainment and storytelling skills and opportunities to the MS 118 community.
It’s the highlight of my year is when I’m able to direct our school plays! We’ve done one per year. They include 12 Angry Men, Hyper Focus and two originals called Twisted Tales and Listen.
Part of my mission is to train and enable students seeking to attend performing arts high schools, such as my alma mater, LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts.
As a theater teacher I try to bring a sense of fun and cooperative learning opportunities that enhance student cognition, problem solving, confidence and self-expression (to name a few).
Hi, I’m Mr. Luongo, and I’m an English Language Arts teacher at MS118. As an educator, my greatest motivation is to inspire a love of learning in my students. I believe that all students are capable of developing their literacy and writing skills in order to maximize their access to opportunities in the future. As an international school teacher and an educational consultant, my career has taken me across the globe, and these experiences have helped me realize that all students are intelligent, hard working, and capable of greatness. My job is to stoke their desire to learn.
Outside of the classroom, my insatiable drive for exploration and problem solving drives me to climb mountains and slay dragons. When I’m not working, you can probably find me scrambling over the rocks in Harriman State Park or hosting Dungeons & Dragons games and my local comic book store.
Yo hablo un poco de español.
我也學習中文。
My background and experiences thus far, all play a major role as an emerging Physical Education teacher. It is my passion to teach and coach, to make physical education a positive, engaging, enjoyable experience where students can be challenged, be creative, be physically active and be themselves in a safe environment. I want to work with students to learn and understand concepts that they can utilize across a variety of sports they will encounter in life and assist them in their journey. I am not only an educator who educates, but also one who collaborates with other educators to equip students for their future successes.
I teach science because it is fun, exciting and thought provoking. My passion for the subject is evident in my approach as well as in my results. My lessons are well prepared and interactive whenever possible, utilizing hands on activities. I teach through inquiry, which means that students have opportunities to explore different scientific phenomena before I “teach” them the content.
Many people believe that scientists “look” a certain way, but a scientist can be anyone! By opening my students’ eyes to new ways of observing things they have already seen, I help them to awaken their inner scientist!
Having come from a family of teachers, oddly enough I did not start my career in teaching until later in my life. Leaving an unfulfilling career as a CPA, I had finally discovered my fascination with the human brain, how it functions, and how to nurture, correct and strengthen the process of learning in people of all ages. I’ve been a full time Special Education teacher at MS 118 for the past 18 years, but I have also been an adjunct professor of education at Mercy College, as well as an Early Intervention Specialist with children ages 2- 3 years old. I love unraveling the process learning for my students, and find it especially gratifying to help those who struggle to do so, which is why I love the field of Special Education. You are given the opportunity every single day to make such a huge positive impact in the lives of your students, many times without even realizing it or it not being revealed until many years later when previous students come back “home” to visit. This impact rarely stops at developing students academically, which is why out of all ages/grade levels I’ve taught, middle school students are what I am most passionate about. So many life changes, new experiences and feelings to interact with and navigate through, especially in this current age of technology and social media – it can be and often is exciting as well as overwhelming for young folks to deal with without the support of strong, caring adults in their lives to bridge them over into rigorous demands of high school and live beyond. Teaching truly is my passion, and it must be genetic – as we speak, my oldest daughter is a junior in college, following in her momma’s footsteps. . .
I have always had a deep love for sports and being active and that is why I believe I make a great physical education educator. I am hardworking and dedicated to helping students become more physically fit. As an educator my goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle through physical education by providing a safe and fun environment. My lessons allow students to develop character, responsibility, respect and healthy habits.