By Sara Walstedter
The first quarter of school is over, which means the newness of the school year – new grade, new goals, new teachers – has worn off. However, one question still going around Branford High 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 Mr. Aaron Brenner, who is the instructional coach in English teacher. He started at Branford at the end of September.
What is your job at Branford High School?
I am a resource, a sounding board, a mirror, a faint echo in the cavernous vacuum left by Mrs. Lucibello — I am the new ELA Coach.
Why did you become a teacher?
When I was young, my mother told me to stop complaining about the world if I wasn’t going to do anything to make it better — well, I liked complaining and wasn’t about to give that up, so I thought about how I could improve the world. I considered becoming a doctor, but that meant a lot more school and I wasn’t particularly fond of school at the time — so naturally I became a teacher. I figured if school shaped the adults that children become — and if many of those adults were the reason the world offered so much to complain about — then maybe I could make the world a little better by improving the experiences kids had in school.
What’s your background and how did you come to BHS?
I have a background in being poor and feeling uncertain about what I want to do with my life. When I was 23, the opportunity for a free master’s degree in Education arose and that seemed a lot better than delivering pizza (which is what I was doing at the time), so I took it. Since then, I have been teaching English in a variety of places. That solved the issue of being poor, but I’m still not sure what I want to do with my life. Any suggestions? I ultimately landed here because they promised me free ice cream — and hey, who doesn’t love ice cream?
What do you like about BHS?
The polite students, the supportive staff, and all the possibilities.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Volleyball (and other sports), music, movies, hiking, evolutionary biology, quantum physics, drawing, thinking, writing, and reading anything that is well written.
Tell me about your family.
My family (especially the puppy my wife recently brought home) is why my weekends aren’t spent entirely on the couch. In spite of my natural tendency toward sloth, our puppy has trained me to be a regular (and only slightly disappointing) provider of treats and entertainment. Our cat just watches us play with bemused disdain.
What’s a favorite song, book, movie or TV show and why?
In a world that provides so many opportunities for entertainment and enlightenment, I worry about people who have a short list of favorites. In each of these categories, my favorites are too many to mention. I like songs that make me want to sing or dance, books that make me think or laugh, movies that help me escape this world or motivate me to make it better, and TV shows that help me laugh at what might otherwise make me cry.
