There’s a fresh face in first grade, and it isn’t one of our smiling children. Rebecca Hirsch joined the staff of St. John the Evangelist School this year as our first grade teacher. Her charges are benefiting from her youthful enthusiasm, a commitment to religious education, and her hands-on teaching methods that tap the imagination and enthusiasm for learning that all our first graders possess.

Ms. Hirsch is new to teaching. She graduated in 2008 from Elon University in North Carolina with a degree in special education and elementary education. While at the university, she worked with fifth graders and kindergarten students. As a student teacher in her senior year, she spent 10 weeks teaching students with learning disabilities in grades K-2 and eight weeks teaching kindergarten.

St. John’s attracted Ms. Hirsch because of her personal experience with Catholic education. She attended St. Peter’s in Olney and Good Counsel High School. Her mother, Kathleen Hirsch, is a school counselor at St. Elizabeth’s, and she learned of the opening at St. John’s from her aunt Peg Daly.

“My faith has always been a part of my education. I enjoyed the public schools that I taught at, but felt something was missing,” she said. The strong support of our Sisters further strengthened her interest in St. John’s. “I feel lucky to be a part of a school where there are so many Sisters,” she added.

Ms. Hirsch believes that her studies in special education provide her with tools to help students learn. “I truly believe that every student has the ability to learn and do really well in the classroom, but children learn the material in different ways,” she explained. “I like to find the style that best suits them. Some may learn better with pictures, some are more auditory. I find what works best with each student and adjust the lessons to meet their needs.”

Ms. Hirsch has taken a creative approach to many of her lessons. During the Christmas season, she tied her geography and world culture lessons to how other countries celebrate Christmas. Each student made a passport, and every day the students visited a new country. “I’d pass out the passports. We’d pretend to get on the plane, and I’d stamp all their passports,” she explained, adding that the students loved the activity, and every day asked what country they would be visiting.

She took a similar approach near St. Patrick’s Day. When teaching a lesson on persuasive writing, she had the first graders write letters to leprechauns trying to convince them to share their gold. “They are so creative. I try to give them things to stretch their imaginations,” she said.

Ms. Hirsch calls her first year here “wonderful.” “Each day I learn from my students. They teach me things and push me to challenge them more. It’s rewarding to see them learning and growing,” she said. “In years to come, I’ll look back and say that I couldn’t have asked for a better first year, first school, and people around me.”