For many students, especially those who struggle in school, it may be hard to imagine their teachers were once just like them, but for Ms. Anna Imperial, the challenges she faced in school were what drove her to pursue a teaching career. Ms. Imperial struggled in school, finding note taking, test taking, and memorization difficult – all skills necessary for the lecture-based teaching style with which she was taught.
“I didn’t learn in the conventional way,” Ms. Imperial said, and her drive to help students who struggled as she did led her to be hired at Fort Hamilton as an English as a New Language (ENL) teacher.
Ms. Imperial grew up in California, where she received a B.A. for World Literature and Culture at UC Santa Cruz. In 2006, she moved to New York City to pursue an MA in History and Literature at Columbia and has been here ever since. She enjoys participating in any activities that engage with the community, such as volunteering at homeless shelters and with service learning, assisting the elderly, and beautifying the environment.
Although she didn’t always want to be a teacher, Ms. Imperial loves teaching, and has been an English teacher for ten years, most recently at the Art and Design High School in Manhattan. She decided to come to Fort Hamilton for a change of pace, not just in terms of location, but also the subject she is teaching. Now an E.N.L. teacher, Ms. Imperial is driven by a desire to teach students who do not know English, wanting insight into their unique perspectives.
This desire is what led her to Fort Hamilton, which she believes is a good, diverse school, with phenomenal academics and an amazing teacher culture. This appreciation for Fort’s community underscores key ideals of her teaching philosophy – that education should be inclusive, that students should be held to high standards, and that schools should place a strong emphasis on social-emotional health.
Ms. Imperial is excited for her future here at Fort, and says that even on her toughest days, all she needs to stay inspired as a teacher is to remind herself that “[every] day you are forced to solve problems and help students learn.”
