By MacKenzie Nguyen and Sara Walstedter
It’s the already the second month of school, which means the newness of the school year – new grade, new goals, new teachers – is starting to wear off. However, one question still going around BHS recently is: Who are these new teachers? The Branford Buzz took the opportunity to interview and learn more about them. Over the coming weeks, the Buzz will be publishing Q & A interviews with all the new staff members.
Today’s feature is on Ms. Laureen Mutuski, a new English teacher whose classroom is F10.
What subject and classes do you teach?
Freshman English and Creative Writing, which is composed mostly of seniors.
Why did you become a teacher?
While I always dreamed of teaching, it’s actually my second career–I spent over 20 years as a book publisher, editor, and author in New York City book publishing, at the places you see emblazoned on the spines of the books you read, like Penguin, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins. I became a high school English teacher to share that unique experience with students. They seem to really love learning from someone who made a living reading and writing in the big city!
What’s your background and how did you come to BHS?
I majored in English at Providence College, but graduated into a recession, so there weren’t any teaching jobs available and I didn’t have the resources for a Master’s degree back then. That’s when I went to New York and began my career in publishing. As an editor, publisher, and writer, I always felt I was “teaching” others how to write, so becoming a high school English teacher was less of a leap than it may seem. Becoming a teacher has brought my life’s work full circle. Ever since I was a little girl, I devoured books, short stories, poetry, anything I could get my hands on. Some of my earliest memories were sitting in my mother’s lap, reading, and then standing at a chalkboard “teaching” my grandfather the ABCs. I always felt that books opened windows into worlds and perspectives that were novel and exciting to me. Books showed me a world beyond the little town of North Branford, where I grew up. My English teachers were my heroes, always supporting my love of reading and encouraging my dream of becoming a writer and a teacher.
What do you like about BHS?
I actually worked here as an ELA sub and interventionist in 2020-2021, remember the good old hybrid days?! Last year, I worked at Weston High School, a district much closer to where I live, because there wasn’t a position available at BHS. I was thrilled to come back this year because BHS is so student centered–it really is all about the kids here, which I love–and because of wonderful, supportive colleagues, like Ms. Byrd, who believed in me and my passion for teaching from the very beginning, and because of the incredible teachers in the English department, from whom I learn something every single day. I also really love the English curriculum and its emphasis on combining classic texts with diverse perspectives and voices, books similar to those I would have read or published when I was in New York.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Teachers hardly have time for hobbies, but when I’m not planning or grading, I’m spending time with my husband, John, and my three kids–16 year old twins, Luke and Poppy, and my almost 14 year old son, Milo, hiking, walking our 6-year-old rescue Rottie Rufus, or bingeing on the latest Netflix series. Right now I’m watching “Dahmer” with my daughter, “Mad Men” with her twin, and “The Gilmore Girls” with my youngest. I don’t have a lot of time, so they have to take turns, and it takes us weeks and weeks to get through a single season, but it’s fun bonding time with each of them individually.
What’s your favorite song, book, movie or TV show and why?
I have too many favorite books to mention, but a couple of classics that I love are The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, which I read in high school. It was the first book that introduced me to the concepts of fate, free will, and destiny, which just blew my mind as a teenager. In college, I fell in love with Ulysses by James Joyce. It was one of the hardest texts I ever muddled through, but doing so gave me such a great feeling of satisfaction, I still read it again every once in a while as a challenge.
