Courtney Derman is one of the new teachers who have joined the Pathways program as a history teacher. She joined the school staff last year as an assistant to the present Humanities Director Sean Walsh in his English 11 class.
Before becoming a teacher, she went to Pittsburg State University for her undergrad and is currently at UMASS Lowell for her Masters. She chose a path in history because of her love for the subject saying,“the only ways to solve the problems of society now is to understand the way society was in the past so we can move on and do better”
Derman was working in Reading High School for 3 years in the learning center, co-teaching history. After, she moved down to the Therapeutic Support Program for a year. Derman came to Malden High half way through the year in 2018. She co-taught with a former Malden High history teacher Damian Aufiero and co-taught English with Shannon Alexis and Walsh. According to Walsh, Derman “really cared for the students and she had the ability to go one on one with them.”
Principal Mastrangelo echoed this statement when being asked why she was hired, saying the school “saw her as a perfect fit for the Pathways program, her personality being the main reason, that being her ability to relate to the students in her class.”
Derman, at the end of the last school year, spoke to Principal Mastrangelo. He asked her if she would like to work in Pathways because of her dual history and special-education license. When having the program described to her, she said “it sounded awesome and like the best of both worlds.” When asked about the Pathways program she said she “like[s] the smaller group aspect of it and to work one on one with students.” She later went on to say “[she] got a History degree because [she] love[s] history, [she] was a History major in college and [she] ended up getting a Special Ed degree because [she] love[s] focusing on their social and emotional needs, and not drilling them with academics.” She stated that though academics are important, she believes that having the skills for one to take care of themselves are more important because those are the skills one relies on. Her experience with the administration was supportive, adding that “any time [she] has a question, [she] can go to anybody.”
When asked about the school as a whole, she says that the students at MHS are “great,” adding that they are “very friendly” and “will always say ‘hi’ and ‘good morning’ even if [she] [does not] know them.” She states that she learned a lot from the students as well as the school’s diversity.
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