BCSD is excited to shine a light on its wonderful and dedicated staff and teachers each month. To start off this year BCSD would like to feature members from its Administrative Team. Get to know a little more about Elementary School Principal Ms. Tracy Kent, Elementary School Assistant Principal Ms. Jodi Cataldo and Middle High School Principal Ms. Kimberly Brownell.
BCSD will quote the featured staffs’ responses to a light-hearted questionnaire. This is an opportunity for the staff at BCSD to share more about themselves as well as offer some advice from their perspective.
Ms. Tracy Kent
Berlin Elementary School
Principal
1. What is your favorite memory from school?
When I think back on my time in school, some of my fondest memories are of being a part of a team. While in high school, I played soccer, was a cheerleader, and also ran track. This helped me to learn the important role that each member of a team plays and it was also a lot of fun!
2. What would the students be surprised to find out about you? What is one of your hidden talents?
When I was in elementary school, I was very shy and afraid to share my ideas in school. As I got older, I outgrew this and ended up becoming a teacher myself.
When I was in fifth grade, I was a member of the chorus. That year we learned the song, Fifty Nifty United States. To this day, I can still sing all 50 states in alphabetical order thanks to that song!
3. What makes a ‘good day’ at school?
As a principal, a good day at school is one where I see students engaged in learning but also having fun. I enjoy spending time in classrooms getting to see and know the students better. This gives us the opportunity to talk about their ideas and interests.
4. What kinds of questions do you suggest that I ask my child(ren) on a daily basis after a day at school?
Something that I have learned from the teachers at BES is to have students tell you something good about their day. There is always something good to share if we pause and really think about all of the events and interactions that happen in the course of a day. Always look for the positive.
5. What are the best resources that we should consider using to support our child in the classroom?
The best resources we can offer our students as parents is that of our time and interest. Just talking about school and asking questions about what they are learning shows that we care and want our children to succeed.
6. If you could take the students on a field trip to anywhere in the world, where would you take them?
There are so many wonderful places to visit, both near and far. One of my favorite places to spend time is the ocean. I’ve traveled to both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and I love them both!
7. What is your “trapped on a desert island” book(s)?
I have always loved to read and I still do as an adult. I subscribe to Audible and listen to books on my way to/from school each day. Some of my current favorite authors are Kristin Hannah, Colleen Hoover, and Jodi Picoult.
Ms. Jodi Cataldo
Berlin Elementary School
Assistant Principal
1. What is your favorite memory from school?
My favorite memories of school were from 6th grade. Up until that point, I was struggling academically and was not making personal connections with my teachers. My 6th grade teacher took the time to build relationships with her students and make learning fun. She incorporated hands-on activities and connected assignments to real world events. When we were learning about fossils, we took a field trip to a mountainous region where we could investigate fossils in their nature. We were encouraged to work together in groups and create presentations that incorporated Music and the Arts. At the end of that year, I had developed a love for learning and discovered that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.
2. What would the students be surprised to find out about you? What is one of your hidden talents?
My hidden talent is that I enjoy completing home improvement projects in my house. I love to assemble, fix and build things. I have learned how to do most things by watching and observing others do them or looking them up on YouTube.
3. What makes a ‘good day’ at school?
A great day at school is when I can personally make a difference in someone else’s day. That may be working with a struggling student to turn their day around, helping a teacher figure out a solution to a problem in their classroom, or giving someone a needed break to regroup. Making a positive difference in someone’s day is what makes a day successful.
4. What kinds of questions do you suggest that I ask my child(ren) on a daily basis after a day at school?
Talking with students about their day is one of the best ways parents can connect with what is happening at school. Asking your child(ren) what their favorite part of the day was and also one thing that they would want to change or fix from that day. This allows students to celebrate their successes, while also reflecting on the things that they could have done differently.
5. What are the best resources that we should consider using to support our child in the classroom?
Books are the best resource students can have! Building a love for reading and learning will open doors for our students and will support what we are teaching at school.
6. If you could take the students on a field trip to anywhere in the world, where would you take them?
Over the summer I had the opportunity to visit Alaska. If I had the opportunity to take students on a field trip, that is where we would go. Being able to see nature in its purest sense is something everyone should experience in their lifetime. Students would have the opportunity to learn through the observation of animals and their habitats while also exploring the history of the land.
7. What is your “trapped on a desert island” book?
I enjoy reading books that teach me new ways of thinking about things in my life. With that in mind, if I was trapped on a deserted island I would bring the book “How to Stay Alive: The Ultimate Guide for any Situation”. I am not the kind of person that would want to just sit back, relax and read a leisure book. I would jump into action and figure out ways to help me survive while I waited to be rescued.
Ms. Kimberly Brownell
Berlin Middle High School
Principal
1. What is your favorite memory from school?
My favorite memory from school is my seventh grade outdoor education experience. Our seventh grade teachers took our entire class to a local campground for an entire week, where we stayed in cabins with eleventh and twelfth grade student counselors. The teachers facilitated unique activities such as stream study, square dancing, team building games, hiking, canoeing, adventure course, etc. This experience made a huge impact on my life by expanding my view on how learning can happen as well as creating new opportunities to learn about my peers and grow socially and emotionally. This single life experience is part of the reason I became a middle school teacher.
2. What would the students be surprised to find out about you? What is one of your hidden talents?
I have two different colored eyes and I qualified for States in swimming my senior year in high school and swam in the state championship meet at Penn State University.
3. What makes a ‘good day’ in the school building for you?
There is a lot that could quantify as a ‘good day’, but overall, a ‘good day’ is when I get to interact positively with students and staff in a way that brings us together as a school community. For example, I subbed into a High School global class the other day and before leaving, asked the students if any of them had a burning question for the principal. A student raised her hand and asked why I wanted to become a principal. It was a great moment to share my passion for supporting students and teachers in always questioning our practice in order to create the most conducive environment for learning.
4. What kinds of questions do you suggest that I ask my child(ren) on a daily basis after a day at school?
Here are a few:
- What made you smile at school today? What was a challenge you faced today?
- What activities did you feel most engaged in at school today? What activities did you struggle to pay attention to? Why do you think that is?
- Who did you sit with at lunch today?
- What was trending today?
5. What are the best resources that we should consider using to support our child in the classroom?
Their teachers! Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher for ANY reason. We have an amazing community of teachers and staff that will bend over backwards for our kids, but if we do not know that your child needs support, we cannot meet his or her needs. It is all about communication.
6. If you could take the students on a field trip to anywhere in the world, where would you take them?
I would love to take all of my students to the village of Itaituba in Brazil, where I spent a week working with boys in an orphanage. This village was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, which we had to hike through in order to get to after taking an 18 hour boat ride. We tutored in the school during the morning and then worked alongside the boys on the farm in the afternoon. No cell phones, no internet, just hard work and internal fulfillment as we built relationships with the kids and adults who worked and lived there. It is these types of cross-cultural experiences that open up our world view and help us appreciate what really matters in life.
7. What is your “trapped on a desert island” book?
My Bible and an endless page journal for me to write my own story.
Ms. Brownell was recently featured in an article from the Education Resources Consortium called Bringing Their Best. BCSD is proud to share this journal article featuring Ms. Brownell below. Congratulations Ms. Brownell!
http://www.educationresourcesconsortium.org/news/2022/7/30/bringing-their-best