by Julie Gowel ·
Friday, August 30, 2024
Note: This article reports new staff members at HES.
For new personnel at Bromfield, see "Bromfield has a new look ..."
The Hildreth Elementary School (HES) has six new, smiling faces in the building. The new hires were gracious enough to speak with the Press just before their students arrived for the 2024–25 academic year.
Michael Missett and Addison Hagan joined the grade 3 faculty while Sandra Jenoski and Kyrstin Favreau became members of the grade 1 team. Mark Hecox took over the music education department, and Karissa Price was added to the kindergarten team when enrollment numbers exceeded the four planned classes.
Mark Hecox.
Kyrstin Favreau.
Michael Missett.
Karissa Price.
Addison Hagan.
Sandra Jenoski. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Two of the new faculty members at the elementary school came recommended by HES physical education teacher Evan Woodworth. Having worked together in the Billerica public schools, Woodworth reached out to his former colleague, Hecox, when HES music teacher Emily Trainer moved over to the Bromfield School. Similarly, Woodworth nudged his best friend from high school, Missett, to apply for the grade 3 position.
Mark Hecox. Hecox is a saxophonist from Worcester who has been teaching music to elementary school children for the past 12 years. A shortened commute was one of the biggest draws enticing him to make the move to HES, as well as the opportunity to experience small-town teaching. “I’m really looking forward to having every single kid,” said Hecox, referring to the fact that Harvard has just one elementary school. “I think that is going to be so cool.”
Karissa Price
New kindergarten teacher Karissa Price has filled in for preschool, kindergarten, and grade 4 teachers for the past two years at HES. She has been setting up her classroom throughout the entire summer in preparation for her incoming students. Price’s favorite part of the school year is after the winter break. “There is magic that happens in the second part of the year,” she said. “The kids are starting to use all their skills, everything is clicking, they’ve learned their letters, they’ve learned their sounds, and they pick up a book and realize, ‘Wow, I can do this, I am reading!’” Newly married, Price and her husband are in the process of buying their first home in Lancaster.
Kyrstin Favreau
Grade 1 teacher Kyrstin Favreau, a resident of Fitchburg, substitute taught for short-term leaves in kindergarten and grade 1 classes at HES over the past three years. The oldest of five siblings, all girls, Favreau says her superpower is “looking out for little ones.” She looks forward to establishing a safe place for social and emotional learning and putting the skills she’s learned from co-teaching with HES faculty to good use. “It’s kind of cool,” she said, “to steer my own ship and show off everything I’ve learned.”
Addison Hagan
Hagan, who will teach grade 3 at HES, lives with her sister and two dogs in Watertown and joins the Harvard schools from Concord, where she was a long-term substitute for grade 4. She is eager to have her own classroom and happily anticipates getting to know the staff and students at HES. “I’m looking forward to getting to know Harvard as a whole,” said Hagan, “not just the school community, but the town too. I used to go apple picking here when I was younger.” She is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but also lived abroad in the Netherlands and speaks fluent Dutch.
Michael Missett
Third-grade teacher Michael Missett comes to Harvard from the Marlborough Public Schools where he’s been teaching for eight years. He and his wife live in Clinton with their 2-year-old son. Like Hecox, Missett is excited for a shorter commute. He is also looking forward to using the natural resources Harvard has to offer, including the nature trail behind HES and the beach at Bare Hill Pond. Missett isn’t worried about the transition or meeting his new students. “I’m the type of person who will generally do anything to get a laugh,” he said. “I think that laughter is a magical thing and the best way to make connections with people and make people feel comfortable.”
Sandra Jenoski.
Grade 1 teacher Sandra Jenoski joins the first grade team at HES with 24 years of experience in two of the state’s top four biggest cities. Having taught in Cambridge for eight years and Worcester for 12, she is looking forward to working in a smaller town similar to Boylston, where she lives with her husband and two sons. Jenoski worked with Marie Phillips, HES grade 5 teacher, and Pam Chapman, grade 1, while she was a reading specialist for Ayer-Shirley. “I learned a lot about Harvard through Marie,” she said. “We both taught first grade, so we used to support each other in that way, sharing materials, sharing ideas, and it wasn’t until Marie decided to make the change to fifth grade this year that her position opened and I thought, well, I’ll just apply, why not?” Jenoski is a dedicated gym-goer, waking every morning at 4:30 to get her daily workout complete.
Editor’s note: With 18 new faculty and administrators in the district as a whole, the Press began introducing the new hires last week and will continue its coverage in the Sept. 6 edition.