Jonathan Hernandez ‘24
For generations students have come to St. Mark’s to learn how to do and be their best. This fall, St. Mark’s is welcoming two students who are learning to teach their best. Brittney Brown, and Shrenik Agrawal joined the St. Mark’s community through the Penn Fellowship Program.
The Fellowship Program, facilitated by the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, is a two-year fellowship program. Members of the program participate in teaching at partner schools, such as St. Mark’s, and online courses. The program allows aspiring teachers to receive a Master of Science in Education while gaining teaching experience at a wide array of partner schools.
Brittney Brown, also known as Miss B around Campus, joined the St. Mark’s community from Georgia Tech this June, where she majored in Aerospace Engineering. Miss B noted that she enjoyed the opportunities grain teaching experience, especially at a boarding school like St. Mark’s. She explains that “I'm really excited to see not only my personal growth and education but also how students learn, the growth of my students and my players.” While here, she is teaching Geometry in the Math Department and currently helping coach Junior-Varsity Field Hockey in the fall.
Miss B can often be found in the STEM faculty room or walking her student-popular dog Goose. In addition to athletics, Miss B is also interested in helping with Saturday Courses and the Robotics Team in the Winter. She is currently on duty in Gaccon, where she lives in one of the faculty apartments, where she loves to bake treats such as cheesecake and brownies. In addition, she has noted that she prefers the St. Mark’s community to call her Miss B.
Mr. Agrawal, noted that he had a long-standing desire to teach since high school. He explained that the Penn Fellowship has given him “a really good opportunity to learn and learn how to teach and work with small class sizes.” Mr. Agrawal explained that in teaching in a small school, teachers were able to have more time to connect more closely with each person. He explains that “teaching is about, first and foremost, strong social connections. That is the foundation on which any content that you're working with, stands on because you need that trust between teacher and student.” In being at St. Mark’s, Mr. Agrawal also noted that he hopes to be involved in promoting Community and Equity at St. Mark’s.
Along with teaching, Mr. Agrawal plans on coaching Junior-Varsity Squash in the winter and Tennis in the Spring. When not teaching, he can be found running on the West Campus Cross Country Trail. He explained how the trail was truly a sight to see.
This academic year, there were many faculty and staff to join the St. Mark’s community in most, if not all departments. Make sure to welcome each one by getting to know them, including Miss B and Mr. Agrawal!
