Tapping into community education, social change, and holistic elementary school teaching.

“What do you notice? What do you wonder?” 

For Clare Simpson, these two questions set the tone for a successful day of teaching at Wood End Elementary School in Reading, Mass. From decoding new vocabulary words, to crafting thesis statements, she guides her class through different ways of accessing written texts.

“My mentor and I try to make real world connections for the students,” explains Clare. After graduating from the Community Education and Social Change program, Clare went on to pursue her master’s degree in Elementary Education and Teaching at Merrimack College in their Fellowship Program. CESC played a key role in preparing her for graduate study and her teaching placement.

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Clare Simpson '23

“The best part of CESC was that it gave me the opportunity to be exposed to so many aspects of education, leadership, technology, anti-racist approaches to education,” she says. 

Clare took advantage of the major’s flexibility to focus her learning on classroom management and education, rather than social work or nonprofit management. Courses like math methods (with Darrell Earnest) and reading methods (with Camille Cammack) have proved to be especially useful, she says, because she draws on their principles while lesson planning and discussing ideas with her peers. Clare credits CESC with helping her develop skills outside of specific subject areas, too. For example, at Wood End her supervising teacher is letting her take the lead on the class’s social and emotional learning curriculum this fall.

“CESC teaches you how to celebrate each kids’ identity,” says Clare. “You let the kids bring their cultures to school, celebrate their differences, let them teach their peers and share their cultures.”

“Finding the small victories”

Looking back on her time at UMass, Clare appreciates the support she encountered in the Advising Center to help her prepare for her next steps. When she was feeling unsure about her resume and personal statement, she scheduled a 2.5 hour session with Ben Rodriguez, senior academic and career advisor, to get on the right track. Conversations with Mike Hanna, director of student success and engagement, were equally helpful.

“They helped me to best highlight my strengths and make my application standout,” says Clare. “Ben and Mike helped me get through that anxiety, the whole stress level of leaving undergrad and transitioning to grad.”

As a peer advisor in the Advising Center, Clare had many conversations with fellow Education students, as well as the college’s advising staff. Mike Hanna in particular acted as a sounding board for Clare, offering guidance not only about her future plans, but on how to get through challenging points in the semester.

“He would tell me to ‘find the small victories’ if I was having a bad day,” she recalls. “This has stuck with me and is something I live by every day, in school and life.”

Mike’s mentorship illustrates a larger benefit of the EDUC community according to Clare. The relationships that students are able to create with faculty and staff gives them an edge, both in the field of education (i.e. graduate school) as well as life (i.e. living as a socially-conscious leader). 

“I will hold onto my memories of Furcolo forever,” says Clare.

And, while making the transition from student to alumna has also been challenging, Clare intends to stay involved with the EDUC college community through events like Fall Visit Days and Education Club.

“It’s exciting to tell people about UMass…it’s really fun to be able to talk so highly of a program,” she says. “Specifically with the College of Ed, that whole experience has been so special.”