为讨论做准备

The discussion starts slowly — it is 8:30 on Monday morning, after all.

分成两组，每组六人, the sophomores in Rebecca Cook-Dubin’s 英语 classroom dig into their reading of 我在伊朗长大, Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The students share answers to three prompts: I like…, 我注意到……, 我想知道……, before their discussion moves on to larger questions, “Why does Marjane’s family stay in Iran when others leave?” 和 “How does a community determine its rules 和 values?”

Ms. Cook-Dubin periodically checks in on the students. She asks them to consider additional questions, 轻轻地推动谈话, which only stop when the bell rings 50 minutes later.

“The best classes are when everyone is speaking 和 has a role in the conversation, 和 everyone’s voice is valued 和 heard,女士说。. Cook-Dubin, the Phoebe Goodhue Milliken ’37 英语 Department Chair. “My job is to make sure that environment exists, 和 if something is in conflict with that environment, I need to bring us to a place that helps us all learn our best.”

In the eyes of students 和 colleagues alike, Ms. Cook-Dubin does that exceptionally well. She was named at Commencement 2019 as the Leonhardt Family Teaching Chair, an honor bestowed every four years to recognize outst和ing teaching at MHS. That several of her students nominated her for the award speaks to the role Ms. Cook-Dubin’s plays in shaping their experiences at MHS.

Ms. Cook-Dubin’s path to the classroom began in 2001, after moving to Charleston, South Carolina. 在那里, she applied for a job as a permanent substitute, which led to a position in a ninth-grade 英语 classroom. Two years later, upon moving to Boston, Ms. Cook-Dubin was coordinator of the student theater at Br和eis University, 意识到她错过了教室.

“Even though I am a theater person, I wasn’t a theater teacher,女士说。. 库克-杜宾的成绩是B.A. 达特茅斯学院戏剧专业毕业. “I found that I loved working with students on writing 和 reading skills, 和 I appreciated the kinds of discussions you can have in 英语 classrooms.” So, she returned to the classroom, earning an M.Ed. in Curriculum 和 Instruction from Boston College.

从2007年到2011年，她. Cook-Dubin taught 英语 和 was the 英语 Department Chair at The Wellington School, 哥伦布的一所独立学校, 俄亥俄州. 那所学校, 她指出, went through many changes MHS is currently making, including a shift from Advanced Placement classes.

“I found that I loved not only working in the classroom but also thinking more broadly about curriculum 和 assessment,女士说。. Cook-Dubin, who joined Miss Hall’s in 2013, after her family moved to the Berkshires. She became Department Chair in 2016 和 has been in the vanguard of progressive changes in the classroom, including project-based learning 和 growth-based grading in the 英语 Department 和 collaborations across departments.

在她的教室里. Cook-Dubin believes in cultivating a positive, respectful environment in which there is equity of voice, where students can take risks that do not feel risky, 和 where they are constantly exposed to new ideas 和 new ways of thinking. “You can do that authentically 和 deliberately in an 英语 classroom, where every day pushes students forward,她说。.

对于她加入MHS的决定，她说. Cook-Dubin notes that she liked the autonomy offered at an independent school 和 was interested in all-girl education. “I saw why an all-girl environment would be a positive environment for me as a teacher,她说。. “It’s an environment that gives voice to girls 和 allows them to be leaders in the classroom. I saw in a co-ed environment the obstacles that prevented girls from being their bold, 真实的自我. I very much appreciated the idea of being at a school that has a mission of empowering girls. This school lives its mission, 和 I love that about Miss Hall’s.”

莱昂哈特的椅子, the first endowed teaching chair at MHS, was established by the Leonhardt Foundation in 1988 through the efforts of Melissa A. Leonhardt ’76, who is also a former MHS Trustee. A recipient is designated every four years. Previous recipients are former Expressive Arts Department Chair Gary Miller, former Math Teacher Dr. 卡罗尔·J.V. Fisher，前数学老师James K. Ervin, former Latin Teacher Mary Quirk, former Spanish Teacher Helena Cevallos St. 约翰, 科学系系主任唐娜·戴格尔, 和, 最近, History Department Chair Matthew Rutledge. 莱昂哈特的椅子 is a permanent recognition of a faculty member who possesses the highest personal 和 professional ethics, who has made a life-long commitment to young people, whose skillful instruction enlivens the experience of learning, 和 whose wise counsel 和 guidance to students extend beyond the classroom.