On Friday, Type One spoke to the new Latin teacher at Pine Crest, Dr. McDonnell. Having taught Latin since she began working towards her PhD, Dr. McDonnell has always enjoyed helping students figure out new concepts. She particularly loves teaching high schoolers, and at Pine Crest, she’s been given the opportunity to do so and help students grow intellectually. She has always enjoyed teaching from a young age. Throughout her life, she assisted her mother at work at a daycare in New York City, frequently interacting with younger children. She told us, “The best part of teaching is when kids are excited to learn, at any age. And that’s one of the things I love about teaching, is getting people excited to learn.”

Besides Latin, Dr. McDonnell also teaches AP Art History, predominantly to juniors and seniors. She tells Type One that having students from each grade level makes her even more excited to educate them. She explained how part of the reason she loves teaching courses such as Latin and AP Art History is the large amount of time she spent in Italy; her deep interest in the Roman World and how it relates to civilization today has drawn her to help students become just as excited about such subject as she is. Although it is only her first year teaching at Pine Crest and living in South Florida, Dr. McDonnell shared her experience thus far: “I like [Pine Crest] a lot… [South Florida] is more humid than I was hoping for.”