Patricia P.C. '02, Georgetown '06, Pace '09

Each day during my 14 years at Berkeley Carroll I was transported to a new dimension of discovery, inquiry and adventure. My educators and mentors respected me as an individual learner, celebrated my successes and talents and challenged me to grow as person. It was this rich, life-altering experience that filled me with a determination to become a teacher who could bring such quality education into public schools.

My plan was to attend dental school after graduating from Georgetown University in 2006, but I was recruited by Teach For America my senior year. I fell in love with my placement school, University Heights High School, a vibrant community in the South Bronx that cares for the whole child just as BC does, and am now the assistant principal, chair of the science department, co-programmer and still teach science.

In 2009 I received an M.St. in adolescent science education from Pace University and in 2014 earned an M.S.Ed. in education leadership from Lehman College, where I was the recipient of the Aspiring Leader Award and a LUTE Educational Technology Award. Most recently I received the Sloan Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics from the Fund for the City of New York and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, an incredibly unexpected honor for myself and the entire University Heights High School community, which has supported me as I have improved upon my craft.

I am filled with gratitude for the BC teachers who inspired me to be a caring and fully-dedicated educator who is open to innovation and who respects my students enough to challenge them to reach for greatness. [Upper School English Chair] Erika Drezner especially is the kind of teacher I wish to emulate. She took me under her wing in my last few years of high school and gave me the confidence and support I needed to attend college, becoming the first in my immediate family to do so. I will be forever grateful for the positive impact she has had in my life and hope that I too can be this type of catalyst in the lives of my own students.