Our Students & Alumni

Deshana was born in Kolkata, India, and moved to the U.S. just in time to start kindergarten. Strong familial, cultural, and linguistic ties to both Bengal and NYC have shaped her experience as a first-generation immigrant, as well as her motivation to work with immigrant students and their families. She has served as a translator, curriculum developer, and educator in various settings, including refugee legal services, public, and charter schools, writing centers, and opportunity programs. After stints at New York University and AmeriCorps, she is now pursuing a dual master's degree in TESOL and Intellectual Disability/Autism within TR@TC. She will be dual certified in Students with Disabilities (7-12 SPED) and ESOL/ENL (English as a New Language). She has a love-hate relationship with language learning, identity politics, the NYC public school system, and the four years she spent obtaining a bachelor's in pre-med. During brain-off hours, she likes to play mahjong, tends to her plant children, and hit the gym and yoga mat.

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Crystal has resided in NYC since 2005, pursuing her passion for contemporary dance and choreography. She gained her earliest teaching experience through movement-based classes, including offerings for students with disabilities. Inspired by her background, Crystal has become energized about implementing kinesthetic learning practices as a tool to maximize inclusivity in the classroom. Crystal completed her B.S. at The City College of New York with a dual major in biochemistry and psychology. She is currently working towards a master’s in teaching science and special education with TR@TC.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Ashley graduated with a BA in Political Science from Monmouth University before obtaining an MS in Global Affairs from Rutgers. During undergrad, she got the travel bug and eventually moved to China, where she taught English and studied Mandarin for seven years.

Jonny loves to learn and teach mathematics. They studied Drama at Tufts University and Math at CCNY and are now working towards their M.A. in Mathematics Education and Special Education through the TR@TC program. Jonny has tutored high school students and taught adult education classes in the high school equivalency programs at Brooklyn Public Library and Lehman College. Jonny is passionate that we are all math people and believes the math classroom is rich with possibilities for building self-efficacy. Outside the classroom, Jonny can be found frolicking in the worlds of clowning, drag performance, and circus. They also make a pretty good homemade lasagna.

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Born and raised New Yorker, Tyreik Kelly is currently working towards a M.A.T. in Earth Science and Special Education as part of the TR@TC Program. As a graduate of NYC public schools and a former science educator at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), he brings a unique perspective. He advocates heavily for the increasing role of what a high-quality science education program can do not only for students but students of color and those who identify as female. During his undergraduate studies at the City University of New York at Hunter College, Tyreik was a part of AMNH’s education department leading lessons and activities from early childhood to high school programming. At AMNH, he helped to work with public programs to provide free explorations into science for underrepresented students across the five boroughs. His main professional goal is to get more men of color into teaching roles, especially in science, since he only had two males of color as his science teachers throughout his time in public schools.

In his spare time, he likes to play video games and collect different kinds of teas, but most importantly, he’s an avid sneaker collector. 

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Nora Mahmoud is part of the TR@TC pursuing her initial certifications in Social Studies and Special Education. Nora is a New York City native with strong ties to her Tunisian roots. She is a graduate of the University for Peace's Peace Education Program (Costa Rica, 2007) and holds a B.A. in Sociology from Marymount Manhattan College. Nora has worked in various youth programs throughout NYC and abroad. Most of her work has been in youth development, peace education, and education for sustainability sectors. She has always been an activist at heart and considers herself a lifelong learner. 

In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family, cooking, reading, swimming, and breathing in life!

Sean joined TR@TC so he could teach humanities in inclusive settings in NYC public high schools. He’s pleased to be student-teaching at Forsyth Satellite Academy, a transfer school, as he is an eternal transferrer himself. Growing up, he lived in fifteen different neighborhoods across three neighboring counties, transferred high schools his senior year, and cobbled together a bachelor’s degree with credits from three different colleges, where he majored variously in film production, chemistry, performance art, and creative writing.

Sean has had dozens of jobs, which have employed virtually every region of his body and brain. Some of his favorites have involved groundskeeping; waiting tables at an Italian restaurant; performing with a repertory theater; evaluating novel manuscripts for a romance and erotica publisher; and teaching English to adult language learners in Harlem. He’s also written a bunch of novel guides for GradeSaver, though he would discourage anyone from placing too much of their faith in online study guides.

Sean spent the first eighteen months of the pandemic in Iowa City, where he worked in human services, first in supported employment and then as a counselor and resource navigator throughout Eastern Iowa and Southern Illinois, supporting people in their search for stable necessities like housing, employment, transportation, and healthcare. He’s happy to be back in the electric light of NYC, where he hopes to have a long career as a teacher and to be a consistent, supportive force in students’ development of critical positions as readers, writers, thinkers, and powerful movers through the world.

Kurt Schreiber is a Colorado native of the city of Denver. He is currently pursuing his M.A. in Intellectual Disability/Autism 7th-12th grade and Social Studies education at Columbia University's Teachers College. Kurt is extremely passionate about educational activism, immigrant rights advocacy, historical study, and global understanding. In his career, he has taught internationally for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program in Tokyo, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Indonesia and has worked for multiple non-profits such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum of New York City. Kurt has also taught as an academic writing instructor at the Community College of Denver. In 2020-21, he led a Contact Tracing Response Team in Colorado as part of the AmeriCorps COVID-19 Rapid Response program. Kurt received his B.A. degree in History and Asian Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017.

In his free time, Kurt enjoys reading books, traveling to new places, people watching in the park, drinking a variety of teas and coffees, eating good food, and spending time with his friends and family.

Odette Wang is a California Bay Area native currently pursuing her M.A. in TESOL and Intellectual Disability/Autism through the TR@TC program at Teachers College. Her passion for racial justice, immigrant stories, and community-based work led her to serve in two nonprofit roles before attending Teachers College - at youth development nonprofit LEAP in New Haven and the Immigrant History Initiative, a nonprofit working in education and curriculum development around Asian American history. Odette holds a B.A. in Sociology and a Certificate in Education Studies from Yale University. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and eating, reading, going on runs, and cuddling with her cat Luna. 

She looks forward to developing relationships with students and building a multicultural community through her TR@TC residency at Manhattan Bridges this coming year!

Omar was born and raised in Bangladesh. Before getting admission to medical school, he was educated in a rural area until his elementary schooling and later completed his secondary schooling in the capital city of Dhaka. After obtaining his medical degree, he worked as a physician in the pediatric field, and public health research collaborated with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While he was deeply engaged in serving the community and working to improve child health, the philosophy of his medical career revolved around the health disparities and inequities perpetuating in society. 

In 2009, he moved to the United States for higher education. While he had been tutoring middle school and high school students at New York City Department of Education public schools in different boroughs, he was deeply captivated by the students' imagination and creativity, which strongly motivated him to pursue his current education career. In addition to his lifelong learning commitment, education is the primary tool for him to prepare children for building an equitable and democratic society for all. He completed his BA degree in mathematics from CUNY Hunter College. Before joining the TR@TC program for a Master of Arts (MA) and dual certification in Mathematics Education and Special Education (Grades 7-12), he worked as a middle school mathematics teacher in New Jersey. His core teaching philosophy centers on three principles: 1) social justice, 2) inquiry-based learning and teaching, and 3) inclusivity. He expects to graduate in Fall 2022 and looks forward to working as a secondary school mathematics teacher in New York City's high needs public schools.

Trevor is a Teaching Resident at Teachers College working towards his M.A. in TESOL, with dual certification in TESOL and Special Education (Grades 7-12). He is completing his Residency at the Community Health Academy of the Heights, where he Co-teaches beginner ENL students in middle and high school. He is a proud Co-teacher of a 6th-grade General Education Literacy course and a 6th-grade ICT Math class.

Trevor holds his B.A. in Linguistics and a minor in Acting from CUNY's Brooklyn College. He is the first of his family to graduate high school, receive a bachelor's degree, and soon receive a master's degree. While at Brooklyn College, aside from immersing himself in linguistics and acting, he studied many foreign languages, including Chinese and Japanese. Trevor watches queer-themed television series in his spare time and shares his thoughts, critiques, and suggestions via both written and filmed media.

Mira Soni is an English educator committed to cultivating student creativity through intentional collaboration. Mira is passionate about supporting the growth of multilingual learners with meaningful learning experiences that engage students in writing, reading, and speaking across disciplines and genres. Mira holds a B.A. in American Studies from Columbia University. She is working towards an M.A. at Teachers College with dual certification in ESOL/ENL (English as a New Language) and English Langauge Arts (ELA), expected Fall 2022. Originally from Virginia, Mira enjoys biking along the Hudson with friends, calls with her family, weekly library trips, and long evening walks with her dog Bella.  

One of Mira’s priorities as an English educator is student collaboration in writing. During her residency, she developed writing workshops with her mentor teacher for intermediate and advanced ELLs. Based on teaching techniques from TR@TC, these workshops helped students develop confidence in themselves as writers and legitimate speakers of a new language and learn how to lean on each other as a writing community. 

Mira looks forward to engaging in continuous inquiry and collaboration with her friends in the TR@TC cohort in 2022.

Patricia is a compassionate and engaging educator who cultivates mutual respect and risk-taking culture in the classroom. While earning her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan, she worked as a bilingual instructional aide and taught art classes in the community. After college, she spent a year as a researcher at the National Institutes of Health. While earning her Masters of Science from Stanford University, she spearheaded a project to understand the genetic basis for pre-eclampsia at high altitudes. 

Patricia transitioned from a career in medicine to a career in health education and worked for three years as a health educator in the Bay Area. She is the primary author of a comprehensive sexual health curriculum that incorporates a healing-centered framework that acknowledges systemic barriers and honors the wisdom and lived experiences that youth bring to these conversations. Patricia will receive a Master of Arts in Education from Teachers College's TR@TC Program, earning dual certification in Biology and Students with Disabilities (7-12 SPED). She loves to bake, dance, and play video games with her family in her free time. 

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Audrey Yatdon (he/him) is an educator pursuing dual certification in TESOL and Special Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. As a TR@TC Resident, he is currently completing a year-long teaching residency at International High School at Prospect Heights. His experience as an immigrant motivated him to pursue a career in education where he could be of service to individuals who have had similar journeys. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Sewanee: the University of the South. In addition to teaching, Audrey is also a professional performing artist. In his spare time, he enjoys playing soccer, making art, and watching Marvel films.

Christina is working towards an M.A. in Intellectual Disability/Autism and dual certification in Students with Disabilities (7-12 SPED) and English Language Arts (ELA) as part of the TR@TC program. Before becoming a TR@TC Teaching Resident, Christina served with the AmeriCorps program City Year New York. She graduated from Rowan College at Burlington County and Queens College, City University of New York, earning degrees in Liberal Arts and Communication Sciences and Disorders. While in college, Christina worked at internships at the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice and the U.S. Department of Education and continues to learn about policy and advocacy both in the TR@TC program and through her work in the office of Assembly Member Khaleel M. Anderson. Her academic and pedagogical interests include reading intervention, criticality, and project-based learning.

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Hello Everyone!

My name is Matthew Elias, and I am a dynamic special educator committed to fostering an engaging constructivist environment that values our students' funds of knowledge and focuses on real-world learning experiences. I am passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive learning environment influenced by bell hooks and Paulo Freire. Before TR@TC, I worked for over ten years at a non-profit organization as the Inclusion Coordinator, training staff, leading programs, and creating a safe space for my students.

I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and an advanced degree in Autism Spectrum Disorders from Brooklyn College. In 2022, I will receive a Master of Arts in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and earn dual certification in Students with Disabilities (7-12 SPED) and Biology.

Brooklyn-born, originally from Park Slope, and currently live in Coney Island; I enjoy bike riding, the beach, cooking, listening to music, and playing games.

Melody Henry is an educator committed to fostering a collaborative environment where students can explore the real-life relevance of science. She has previous experience leading a field research project at Lamont-Doherty’s Secondary School Field Research Program, in which she and her team examined environmentally-friendly methods of managing an invasive reed on a Hudson River wetland.

Melody holds a BA from UCLA in Geography and Environmental Studies with concentrations in Geospatial Information Systems and Technologies (GIS) and Environmental Systems and Society. In college, she conducted field research in Australia and the Solomon Islands on the effect of non-compostable trash in ecosystems. She also published a report on Hurricane Maria’s effects on vegetation in Puerto Rico using remote sensing technology. In 2022, she will receive a MA from the TR@TC program at Teachers College with dual certification in Earth Science and Students with Disabilities (7-12 SPED). Her pedagogical interests include creating hands-on experiences for students to engage in science and culturally relevant science education. She enjoys running, hiking, reading, and playing music with her band in her free time.

Adam Kemper is a social studies teacher and special educator who follows bell hooks’ belief that “the classroom [is] the most radical space of possibility in the academy.” Born and raised in New York, Adam’s path to teaching ran through George Washington University, where he earned his B.A. in Psychology, and then through Mongolia, where he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in education. TR@TC has enabled Adam to develop his pedagogical skillset and grow as a restorative, compassionate educator. After a long time away from New York, he feels very lucky to have found a real sense of home in this city that holds global amounts of life and excitement.

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Jo is an aspiring teacher driven by the power education has around the globe. Johanna is committed to cultivating transformative educational experiences for students to support them in unlocking their full potential through becoming agents of change in today’s society.

Jo has always wanted to be a teacher. Every experience with the education she has had has only strengthened this passion. Prior to the TR@TC program, Jo served as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and as a City Year AmeriCorps Volunteer in a middle school in the South Bronx. These full-immersion experiences only solidified her passion for education, teaching her about the type of educator she wants to be: compassionate, motivational, and community-centered.

Jo holds a BA in Education, and Film and Television Studies from Aberystwyth University, UK, and a BA in English from Thomas Edison State University. She will be graduating with an MA in Adolescent Intellectual Disability and Autism and Teaching of English from the TR@TC program at Teachers College and dual certification in Students with Disabilities (7-12 SPED) and English Language Arts (ELA).