This fall, after losing two teachers, Maryanne Rotelli and Deborah Maloney, the science department at HBHS hired recent college graduate Megan Cleary to fill the need.

Cleary has been out of college for two years, after graduating from Keene State University. “It is her first time teaching, but she seems to be doing well,” said a student of hers, Minn Danaisawasdi ‘19.

Cleary has wanted to be a teacher all her life, but just not for chemistry specifically. Originally, she wanted to teach history to elementary school kids, but one of her chemistry teachers in high school pulled her aside to suggest that she consider teaching chemistry to older students because of how well she could explain the concepts to them.

Cleary relates to the students using humor and choosing more modern teaching techniques. Many students agree that she explains chemistry very well. Another one of her students, Brock Holman ‘19, commented, “She’s mature for her age and she knows what she’s doing.”

Her students believe that being a young teacher is helpful in the education of high school students because her youth and new methods of teaching make her relatable. “I didn’t necessarily enjoy chemistry while I was learning it, but I knew I was very good at it, and I knew it made a lot of sense to me. I could explain it well to my peers when I was taking it,” Cleary commented. She was able to learn to love chemistry by teaching it to others and because of this, chose it as her profession.

Cleary is excited to see what is to come of her newfound career in teaching chemistry at HBHS.