Every school year, new teachers are hired at Harrison High School, and although the students in their classes have the pleasure of getting to know them, the rest of the school is quite unfamiliar with them. A selective group of four teachers at Harrison High School, all of who are new to the district, were interviewed and asked personal questions as well as career-based questions. Hopefully, these short interviews provide insight into the lives of some of our new teachers, and can help students connect and familiarize themselves with the new faces in the building!

Maksim Vasilevsky

Mr. Valisevsky is an experienced and devoted teacher. He has numerous unique passions and clearly loves his field of teaching.

Olivia Naporano: What are some of your hobbies or passions?

MV: My passions are veterinary medicine and entomology. I was a former veterinarian, and some of my hobbies include designing certain parts of cars. I also like farming.

ON: What is another fun fact about yourself? 

MV: I am a board certified entomologist, which is the study of insects. There are only five in this side of the world, including me. 

ON: Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names?

MV: I have a very small mini-dachshund, whose name is Jackson. 

ON: Where did you grow up? 

MV: The Soviet Union. 

ON: And how many years have you been teaching? 

MV: Ten years. 

ON: Would you say that teaching has always been your passion? If not, when you were younger, what was your dream career?

MV: I really wanted to be a graphic designer, but I realized I couldn’t draw.

ON: How long have you been working at Harrison High school for? 

MV: One month, since the beginning of this school year. 

ON: What subject or subjects do you teach, and which grades? 

MV: I teach ninth grade Biology.

ON: So, who would you say your favorite scientist is?

MV: Darwin. 

ON: What is your favorite aspect of teaching in general? 

MV: Just watching students take the progressions of not knowing information to being able to use it to better themselves and their learning. 

ON: Awesome. What’s your favorite thing about working in Harrison so far? 

MV: The culture. 

ON: And what do you look forward to for the rest of the school year? 

MV: Just learning about the culture, how the school environment is, and taking it all in. 

Melissa Libertino

Ms. Libertino has a very bubbly, kind personality and is a thoughtful person who enjoys spending time with and getting to know her students. 

ON: What are some of your hobbies or passions?

ML: I have a few. In college I studied art and English, so I like to paint, draw, make sculptures, read, write, and I also like graphic design. All that fun stuff!

ON: What is a fun fact about yourself?

ML: I can write and pretty much do everything with both of my hands.

ON: Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names? 

ML: I have one dog, and his name is Dunkin, spelled like Dunkin Donuts.  

ON: Where did you grow up? 

ML: I’m originally from Mount Vernon and then as a kid I moved to Mahopac, so I went to Mahopac High School. 

ON: How many years have you been teaching?

ML: I have been teaching for a total of five years.

ON: And has teaching always been your passion? If not, what was your dream career?

ML: Teaching was always in the background, and I considered a few things; I considered owning a bakery, being a freelance artist, and being a journalist. I tried out all of those things but it didn’t really give me any fulfillment other than just having fun, and then I found teaching, and I loved it.

ON: How long have you been working at Harrison High School so far?

ML: This is my first year at Harrison, so a month or so.

ON: What subject do you teach and which grade/grades?

ML: I teach English IB Year 1 and 2, so that’s grades eleven and twelve. 

ON: Who would you say your favorite author is, if you had to choose one? 

ML: If I had to choose, I would pick William Goldman, who wrote a book called The Temple of Gold, which is very similar to The Catcher in the Rye, but I think it has a little more edge to it and is a little more relatable. 

ON: What is your favorite thing about working at HHS so far?

ML: I would say the students. The students are super sweet, motivated, want to get to know you, and have a very positive energy.

ON: What do you look forward to for the rest of the school year? 

ML: I look forward to getting to know my students a little bit more and also getting more involved so I can meet students who aren’t in my classroom, so I’m excited for that.

Alexandra Villanueva

Ms. Villanueva is a dedicated and ambitious person and teacher who loves to be active and explore the world.

ON: What are some of your hobbies or passions?

AV: Definitely traveling. I love to travel to Spain and to my own country, Peru, and I like cooking in my free time as well. I like spending time with family, my sister, mom, and dad, and exercising, like running and going to the gym. 

ON: What is another fun fact about yourself? 

AV: I do zumba with my mom. 

ON: Do you have any pets?

AV: No.

ON: Where did you grow up? 

AV: In Ossining, here in Westchester.

ON: How many years have you been teaching?

AV: Since 2017, so five years.

ON: And has teaching always been your passion? If not, when you were younger, what was your dream career?

AV: I’ve always wanted to be a singer, and I still want to be a singer, but teaching has always been there; I used to tutor in high school and in college, and decided to pursue my master’s degree in teaching.

ON: How long have you been working at Harrison High school so far?

AV: A month, this is my first year here.

ON: What subject do you teach and which grade or grades?

AV: I teach mostly Spanish 2 and Intro to Spanish 1, so the ninth graders.

ON: And who would you say, if you had to choose, is your favorite hispanic idol, whether it be favorite actor, singer, etc.?

AV: I would say Shakira.

ON: What is your favorite thing about working at Harrison so far?

AV: The students. 

ON: And finally, what do you look forward to for the rest of the school year? 

AV: Just having a relationship with my students, developing that good connection and good chemistry in the classroom, and of course I want them to progress in the class. 

Jaclyn Wagner 

Mrs. Wagner is a jubilant, optimistic person with a deep love for her job and her students. Here is her interview: 

ON: What are some of your hobbies or passions?

JW: I love to garden. I keep a vegetable garden and also a flower garden, and flowers make me very happy; after school everyday, I go and I walk through and look at them, and I always try to pick ones that have a long bloom season because my daughters love to pick and make bouquets, so we always have fresh flowers throughout the house. 

ON: What is a fun fact about yourself?

JW: I was an Argentine tango dancer. I learned to dance in college and continued that for about ten years. 

ON: Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names? 

JW: I have Maxx, Ralphie, and Belatrix, which are all cats, and two outdoor ones, Lolitta and Marcus. 

ON: Where did you grow up? 

ML: I grew up in Pawling, New York, where I live now. I actually live next door to my dad!

ON: How many years have you been teaching?

JW: Fifteen years. 

ON: And has teaching always been your passion? If not, what was your dream career?

JW: No, so I was obsessed with mystery books and Nancy drew, and I quite literally wanted to be her. So my first thought was that I was going to be a forensic pathologist, performing autopsies and all of that. And, at some point, I just sort of realized that I can read about that and also pursue all of the teaching and reading that I wanted to do, and that sort of evolved into becoming my main focus and passion. 

ON: How long have you been working at Harrison High School so far?

JW:  One month, since September. 

ON: What subject do you teach and which grade/grades?

JW: I teach English 9 and I teach IB Language and Literature Year 1. 

ON: Who would you say you favorite author or book is, if you had to choose one? 

JW: This is going to be a huge, multi-paragraph response, but I guess my favorite book is All Quiet on the Western Front by Marie Remarque, which was made into a best picture movie in about 1931, and Netflix is actually currently remaking it as a film. There’s a trailer out and everything! I love it because of how visceral and heartbreaking it is, so it’s not a happy tale about going off to war but it’s a very poignant one. 

ON: What is your favorite thing about working at HHS so far?

JW: I love how excited everybody is in the hallways and their enthusiasm to be connecting with different people and friends and doing all sorts of diverse activities and things.

ON: What do you look forward to for the rest of the school year? 

JW: I’m looking forward to just getting to know my students better through the work that we are exploring because it opens all sorts of new and sometimes crazy conversations and you never quite know where it’s going to go but I’m excited for that journey, whatever it’s going to be! 

The principal of Harrison High School, Mrs Beukema, has a lot of positive comments regarding new teachers. “Our District gives a great deal of attention and time to the hiring of new teachers. We hire the best of the best, as students likely recognize from the experiences they have with our high school faculty,” she claims. “Once our teachers are hired, it is my hope they feel welcomed and supported by the many structures we have in place.  In the summer, our teachers are able to spend some time at the high school with Mrs. Griffo, Mr. Mastrota, and me as part of the New Teacher Institute.  They are also able to meet their mentor at the end of the Institute, which is another faculty member they are paired with for the year.  The entire design of the Institute is to immerse our new teachers in our District, who we are and what we value.  We love our new faculty members and readily welcome them to our Harrison High School family!