Tara Bennett '98 bid farewell to Dartmouth classrooms this June, but she will be moving on to the classrooms of Norwell High School, this time as a teacher.
She will be teaching science at Norwell, a small public high school on Boston's South Shore.
Bennett said she plans to spend the summer creating lesson plans which fit into the curriculum.
While she was at Dartmouth, Bennett took advantage of the College's teacher preparation program, which she calls "fantastic."
"I think the program helps you to learn about many aspects of teaching and also lets you be extremely creative about designing curriculum," she said.
She said her work with Education Professor Nona Lyons in the secondary program was invaluable in creating her portfolio.
"Professor Lyons has real expertise in this area and I think that she's a wonderful asset to the program," she said. "I hope that the program continues to grow by adding more faculty and eventually gains more support from the college."
Bennett said her experiences in the Biology department also helped her prepare for the fall. She had only the highest praise for the wide range of courses available to her in the past four years, as well as for the practical skills she learned by working in a lab.
In addition to the rigors of her endeavors in Biology, the senior from North Attleboro, Mass., kept busy at Dartmouth as an active member of both Dartmouth United and the Tae Kwon Do team, while working as a Tucker Foundation School volunteer and in the Academic Skills Center.
"I never planned to do the corporate recruiting thing. There's just not much at all about it that appeals to me personally. I really love teaching," she said. "It just may take a little longer to pay off the loans."
Bennett also plans to coach track or cross country at Norwell.
Despite the uncertainties of her work next year, she said the toughest part is behind her -- finding the job.
"Unfortunately this is one area where Career Services is quite lacking. There is some information available in terms of private schools, but if you want to teach in public school you really have to do the research yourself," she said.
She made it clear that this is a hole she thinks Career Services should fill.
"I think it's important for the Career Service centers of schools like Dartmouth to make it easier for students to learn about public school teaching jobs," Bennett said. "Overall, I think the Center is fantastic for helping people, but that's just one area where they need to expand."
