John McGlynn is a new member of the health department at Malden High. McGlynn grew up in the nearby city of Medford. His career initially started in business, but he gradually began to steer toward teaching health since he has been interested in it since graduating college. He has been a teacher for four and a half years, most of which have been spent during the epidemic.
It was challenging to begin a teaching career at the start of a pandemic, but McGlynn saw it as an opportunity: “I kind of redid the curriculum that was laid out for me, and I not only updated it, I made sure it was things that I thought would have been effective for me as a student”. Putting himself in his students’ shoes helped him better understand how to make learning as a student better. The curriculum laid out for most teachers is not always the best way to teach students, but McGlynn embraced it and improved it.
Most people would describe McGlynn as an easygoing teacher who makes you feel at ease in his presence. “He is a calm teacher who makes accommodations for his students to make them comfortable,” Jack Colantuoni, a student of McGlynn stated. He is a patient understanding teacher and goes the extra mile to make sure his students succeed in his class. “He takes things slowly so the class can understand,” Kevin Parada added. He takes a slower teaching approach so his students understand the new topics he introduces.
Coming from the business world to education is a drastic change, but McGlynn identified similarities between the two: “I found that the relationships that I’ve had with students in the past and so far with some students that have already started to build here in Malden, they’re similar to the relationships that I have with staff in the business world. Part of my responsibilities, like the biggest responsibility, was building teams of people for these companies that I worked for.” Essentially, McGlynn recognizes that teaching is very similar to building teams and building those teams the best they can be.
Being in a new environment it is important to feel welcomed and respected. McGlynn has felt exactly that so far being at Malden High. He feels he is treated with respect by not only the staff but also the students. “I feel like everybody has been welcoming and friendly and I feel like the kids are, you know, respectful,” McGlynn explained.
When searching for a new health teacher, Mr. Mastrangelo was looking for many of the qualities McGlynn displayed. In addition to being qualified, he also happened to come from Medford, a city comparable to Malden. Since you become used to that environment, moving from one comparable to another can be easier. “He worked his way up in teaching and he has such a strong amazing knowledge about health,” Mastrangelo mentioned.
Overall McGlynn is looking forward to teaching new things. He has already found Malden High to be welcoming with respectful students. He is excited to improve the health curriculum to students’ adjustments.
