Sasha Barish

Pronouns: he/him

Teaching: Ancient Greek; Latin I, II, and IV

Previously… : Before I came to Horace Mann, I was getting my master’s degree in Classics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. I taught some Latin there as well.

Looking forward to… : I’m looking forward to getting to explore ancient texts with students, and having some control over the curriculum so that we can explore what I’m interested in and what the students are interested in. I’m also looking forward to getting to know this awesome community, since it seems like people are really academically motivated here.

Ideal superpower: I would like to be able to fly just because it would be fun. And I could go to places more easily, not having to take the train or getting stuck in traffic, and to be able to see everything from above. But mostly I think it’d just be fun to experience flying and to see birds up close.

Fabiana Cabral

Pronouns: she/her

Position: Administrative Assistant for Counseling and Guidance

Previously… : I worked at a medical non-profit called DKMS, where I was a typing coordinator. Basically, I connected donors who are in our registry and were going to donate stem cells or bone marrow to cancer patients.

Looking forward to… : I am looking forward to having face to face interaction again. I was working from home before, and I am really happy to be working in a school since I haven’t worked in one since graduate school.

Ideal superpower: If I had a superpower it would be the ability to stop time, because I think it would be really helpful!

Irene Feng

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Intro to Programming, Intermediate Programming, Software Engineering

Previously… : This is my first year teaching. I used to work in industry, and I was a software engineer at Facebook. At Facebook, you have the opportunity to have a lot of impact since you have access to many people, which I was super grateful for.  I’ve always been interested in education, where it’s about really influencing and fostering creativity for each person. The impact there is for less people, but takes up a very large part of each of their lives.

Looking forward to… : I’ll know what the young people are up to! I’m not on TikTok, so I’ll finally get to know what the TikTok trends are. But more seriously, I lost the ability to build something in computer science or programming in general that brought me happiness and delight. You know, I’ve been coding for “the man.” So, I am really looking forward to coding with the students just because we’re curious and just because we want to learn.

Ideal superpower: Something similar to reading minds, such as being able to perceive things in the way that other people perceive them. I would use it to empathize with everyone that I interact with and to understand that their experiences are way different than mine. I would also try to read the mind of a dog because, what is it even like to be a dog?

Dr. Jason Gaines

Pronouns: he/him

Teaching: Department Chair for Computer Science; Introduction to Computer Science, Intermediate Computer Science, Computer Science Seminar

Previously… : [Before] working at Horace Mann, I was at Berkeley, Carroll teaching computer science for almost 10 years. I’ve also done before that a number of consulting positions for technology and computer science and programming.”

Looking forward to… : [I’m excited about] meeting everyone actually. I’m really excited to be part of the community and getting to know everybody. So it’s gonna be a really fun start to the year.

Ideal superpower: [I would like] the ability to jump really high. That can be kind of cool, just to reach really, really high things.

Susannah Goldstein

Pronouns: she/her

Position: Upper Division librarian

Previously… : Prior to coming to Horace Mann, I was one of the librarians at Brearley.

Looking forward to… : I’m really excited to be in such a bustling library. This is a place of action and it’s a lot of fun, so I’m really excited to be part of it.

Ideal superpower: I would like the ability to just be able to appear in another space without having to travel there because I am terrible with directions. I’m noticing more and more that Horace Mann is such a big campus, so I’d like to be able to just appear in another space.

Dr. Avner Halevy

Pronouns: he/him

Teaching: Geometry, Calculus with Theory Honors

Previously… : I was a professor at the university level. [Dr. Halevy earned his BS from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his PhD in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation from the University of Maryland. He has most recently taught at Reucgnab University in Israel.]

Looking forward to… : I am looking forward to getting to know my students.

Ideal superpower: If I had a superpower, I would know everything.

Estefani Hernandez

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Ninth and 10th grade English

Previously… : Before coming to Horace Mann, I worked at the Peddie School, a boarding school in New Jersey.

Looking forward to… : I am looking forward to teaching here in New York. I am from Washington Heights, so it feels important to teach in New York.

Ideal superpower: If I had a superpower it would be the ability to read and speak every language. I would love to be able to read anything in its original language as opposed to reading translations.

Kathryn Koontz

Pronouns: she/her

Position: Test Center Coordinator 

Previously… : Taught at Westchester Community College.

Christof Knoche

Pronouns: he/him

Teaching: Recording Studio Technology

Previously… : Taught in the Horace Mann Lower Division

Brian Lee

Pronouns: he/him

Teaching: Eighth grade painting, Drawing and Painting, directed studies.

Previously… : I taught for nine years at the New York Public School System at an Arrts Magnet school called the High School of Art and Design, where it was just dedicated for the visual arts. The very recent project that I worked on was with Autodesk where I was providing content for the Mobile Home Architectural Project.

Looking forward to… : I had the privilege and fortune to meet Kim Do. He was here for 27 years and I want to honor and do the best I can to try to live up to the legend that he created. The faculty has been here for a week and the one word that I think of while I’m here is the word “possibilities.” It seems like HM has endless opportunities run by the most amazing staff and I see even my own growth in my own artistic practice on these grounds.”

Ideal superpower: This power that Goku does where he could just teleport anywhere. And what I would do with that is say, ‘hey, today I feel like going to check out this market and have sushi for lunch.’ Or, ‘I want some Ethiopian food from Ethiopia.’ It’s all food-related — teleportation for food.

Samantha Lehn

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Geometry, Algebra II

Previously… : This is my 20th year of teaching, and most recently, I was assistant principal at Regis High School.

Looking forward to… : I’ve been an administrator for the last bit of my career, so I’m really excited to be back in the classroom full time. Working with students and watching them grow in their math development is the most fun thing for me, so this is really exciting.

Ideal superpower: I’d really like to be able to beam places — not deal with traffic or how far away anywhere is. You’re just beamed instantaneously.

Lauren Little

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Geometry and Algebra II

Previously… : The job that I had before Horace Mann was at a place called the Garden School. It’s an independent school in Queens. I taught Algebra, I taught Geometry, I taught Algebra II, I taught Precalc, I taught Calc, AP Calc, a lot of different things, starting in 8th grade all the way up through 12th grade.

Looking forward to… : I’m just excited by just how big the campus is, all of the diversity and how many people there are, it’s just really exciting to see the energy there. Everybody seems really excited and happy. It feels like a really good energy. So I’m really excited to get in there and be a part of the spirit.

Ideal superpower: I feel like I’ve always thought it would be really cool to be able to fly. I mean, there’s not a whole lot you can do with that, it just sounds fun! It would be cool if you could do it quickly so you could use it to travel.

Emily Lombardo

Pronouns: she/they

Teaching: Drawing and Painting I, III, IV; Studio Manager

Previously… : What I was doing, and continue to do, was trying to program the gallery so that there’s activities for people to do in it, not just a gallery where work is on the wall for people to go in and look at. We do have shows like that, but we also create activities. We have a pretty fun activity for the opening couple of weeks where students can go in and trace their hands, so we’ll have this beautiful wall of hands. I also organized all the supplies and everything for all the gallery spaces.

Looking forward to… : I’m so looking forward to the work that the students make. I mean, what I’ve seen coming out of all the studios, it’s always been really impressive to me. I’m always surprised by it and intrigued by it. So I’m really excited to see what they make and I’m hoping to create a safe space where everybody feels comfortable being creative in front of each other, because it’s a vulnerable thing to do, being creative and experimental around each other. I’m hoping that in the studio space that I’m teaching in, everybody will feel safe and we can have a good time and treat each other with kindness as we try to make art.

Ideal superpower: I would like plasticity, where you could just become plastic and you could move into all of these weird areas and just slink around. I feel that would be fun. Then you wouldn’t have to do anything, you could just stay in one place. It would be really good for cooking, I think.

Lauren McGinty

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Chemistry, Experiments in Physics and Chemistry, SOI; managing the chemistry lab

Previously… : I started at Horace Mann in 2019 as the chemistry lab manager, so I was responsible for setting up all the experiments for all the Chemistry classes and managing the inventory. I also provided a supporting role for all the Upper Division Science teachers.

Looking forward to… : What I’m most excited about, since I’ve been exclusively teaching 10th graders so far, is to take on another class where I can interact with 11th and 12th graders. I think it’s been really nice to slowly transition into the school, since Horace Mann is such a large place with a lot of staff and faculty who contribute to the school in different ways.

Ideal superpower: Control time, in the sense that I could speed it up and slow it down as I wanted to. Not so much that I would be interested in traveling through time, but if I could make my commute to Horace Mann quicker than it was, I think I would enjoy that.

Chandra Mongroo

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Geometry, Algebra II

Previously… : Before I came to Horace Mann, I taught at Hunter College. I’m thrilled to be teaching high schoolers now. I feel like, when I was teaching college — I actually still teach college on the weekends — they leave after 15 weeks and I have to say goodbye and I’ll never see them again. So, this is really cool for me, to be building this year-long relationship with the students.

Looking forward to… : This is a little bit different from college, insofar as the curriculum goes, it’s a year long. I really want students to find themselves with that — what makes them tick, what part of our math lesson do they really like? I really want them to work with each other, and I don’t get that in college. They barely want to talk to each other, even just to look at their neighbors. So, I really want to encourage collaborative learning.

Ideal superpower: I wish I had the ability to show people, and I guess for myself too, what the future holds. If I knew what my future holds, I could plan (I love planning). So I feel like if I know what my destination is, I can plan more accordingly. And I keep getting caught off guard but I guess that’s the whole point of learning, that’s how you learn. So I always wished I had this superpower of seeing the future.

Jane Myers

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Atlantic World History, US History.

Previously… : I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin. I was teaching a variety of courses over the years while I was in graduate school, getting my PhD. Most recently, I was teaching lectures on 20th century African history and also world histories.

Looking forward to… : I am so looking forward to being in the classroom. I’m so eager to get to know all of my students in the larger HM community and to get to know the Bronx a little bit more.

Ideal superpower: I’ve always wanted the power to have an encyclopedic knowledge of different trees and plants, like if you’re walking down the street or if you’re on a trail or something, since I do a lot of hiking. So I would love to just look at something and know that’s a cedar or whatever it might be. But I would also love being able to cook anything I want. That’s a simpler one. And I would use it to cook for my friends and family.

Adam Resheff 

Pronouns: he/him

Teaching: Math, Precalculus with Theory, Precalculus

Previously… : Last year I had two roles. The first one was in the Academic Center where I tutored in math and science, so I would do that the first half of the day. The second half of the day I would teach two classes. This year, it’s all teaching, so no math or science tutoring.

Looking forward to… : I am excited to teach new classes. I really like the subjects and I’m looking forward to getting to know this new batch of students. I’m excited to dive into the year.

Ideal superpower: Flying. I would fly around the world to see sights from a nice view.

Dr. Alyssa Shearer 

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Science Research; Biology lab manager

Previously… : I just finished my PHD in biomedical research at the Columbia University Medical Center.

Looking forward to… : Interacting with my first cohort of students. This is my first full-time teaching job, so I’m excited about that. I’ve known for several years that I’ve wanted to teach, so I’m excited to jump into that.

Ideal superpower: Teleporting would be nice. I think it would be mostly nice for leisure to just avoid long airplane flights and things like that.

Dr. Sophie Tunney

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Atlantic World history, US history.

Previously… : I was teaching for three years (2017-2020) at Brooklyn College CUNY in the history department. Afterwards, I had fellowships with my PhD that were research based. I received my doctorate in June. I was at the Graduate Center CUNY and I was working on 18th century French history. I looked at the history of French colonization and its intersections with the sciences, botany in particular.

Looking forward to… : The number one thing I’m looking forward to is the daily interaction with students. That’s something that I really missed while I was teaching undergrads. You only see students twice a week. The ability to have consistent conversations with the same students for a year is going to be incredibly rewarding, and I’ll get to see the real growth in terms of their historical knowledge. This is something I would never see in an undergrad setting.

Ideal superpower:I would love the ability to fly. I know that’s probably a very obvious answer, but I think it would be really great to move around the world and see all the different cultures. I  was hesitating between flying and speaking every language, because again that’s about interacting with different people from around the world. Or maybe having the ability to cook every single food…one of those three.

Alison Woolford

Pronouns: she/her

Teaching: Biology, Environmental Science.

Previously… : Last year, I taught ninth grade biology and was the biology lab manager.

Looking forward to… : I’m really looking forward to teaching both classes, but I haven’t taught environmental science in a long time, so I’m looking forward to doing that. I am planning to jump off where Ms. Nivison left because she built a really great foundation for that class. I’m also excited to get to know some of the upperclassmen as well.

Ideal superpower: Teleport to any place in the world at any time I wanted. I would be able to travel, see new places, and not have to spend as much time getting to those places. Also to just be immersed in different cultures.