Katherine Gelbman recently joined the Townsend Harris faculty as an English and Instructional Support Services teacher and already has high praise for her new school. “I go home every day happy. Everybody is so friendly,” she said.

Mrs. Gelbman has many fond memories throughout her teaching career, but she didn’t always envision her professional life being spent in the halls of Townsend Harris. After college, she worked in graphic design and marketing, which inspired her to start her event design business, Sparkle and Ink. She explains that it was more convenient to run Sparkle and Ink from home. “[Working from home] worked for the time. It gave me flexibility with the schedule to have with my daughter at home young.”

As her daughter got older she found herself with more time and started to substitute at different schools. This is the first time Mrs. Gelbman is teaching high school students, which she said has been a great experience. “I was just so blown away by the students here,” she said. “I’m amazed and inspired.”

Freshman English teacher Anthony Balone co-teaches with Mrs. Gelbman. He said the experience has been magnificent as she “has brought so much energy and creativity [to the classroom]. It’s made teaching content I have taught for years seem fresh, new and exciting”

In addition, Mrs. Gelbman has a unique experience working at THHS as she now works in the same place as her husband, Social Studies teacher and Senior Advisor Blayne Gelbman. She said it has been helpful to have someone in the building she can ask any question to and with whom she can share lunch regularly.

Mr. Gelbman said how working in the same building as his wife has been “exciting, [especially since] we are weird [in the sense that] we like each other.” He has also praised her professionalism and organizational skills as a teacher, assuring us that “[Mrs.Gelbman] is a much better teacher than I am.”