Earlier this semester, Vanessa Drakakis joined the Townsend Harris mathematics and Instructional Support Services (ISS) departments. She teaches Geometry to freshmen and sophomores.
Before coming to THHS, Ms. Drakakis taught in the Determination, Resiliency, Enthusiasm, Ambition, and Motivation (DREAM) program, helping rising eighth-grade students prepare for the SHSAT. She taught in the DREAM prep program for 5-8 years, seeing “how students made sacrifices for their dreams to get into [their desired school], studying hard. She admired the way they worked together.”
“So now I’m going to actually teach the [students] that want to be here,” said Ms. Drakakis.
Ms. Drakakis said she loved math as a student, and she has always wanted to help others enjoy math as well. As a teacher, she said she hopes to help her students become better problem solvers and make her lessons more applicable to real life. In a video interview, she told The Classic, “Kids need to discover. I try to be open-ended and make my lessons engaging, and interesting.”
She said she believed it was time to take the next step in her teaching career and decided to apply to THHS. “I feel teaching is a passion,” she said.
Ms. Drakakis wants to use the lessons she learned from teaching in the DREAM program to create the best learning environment for her students.
Math teacher Alice Brea shared her experience co-teaching with Ms. Drakakis so far. She said, “She takes the initiative to get things done, she really wants to support the kids that need support, and she has been great in the classroom. I’m very honored to be working with her this year.”
Some of her current students also shared their experience being in Ms. Drakakis’ class. Freshman Christopher Zheng said, “In class, Ms. Drakakis will go out of her way to help us learn everything we need to so we pass the Regents [exam].”
Sophomore Oliver Sarocky said, “A good teacher is concerned about how their students are doing and is descriptive. She always shows slides and describes all the methods she uses and tries to help.”
Ms. Drakakis said she believes that THHS is a great school with many opportunities. “I want to make a difference,” she said.
