Before coming to The Columbus School, Gabriela Passentino, current 10th grade Geometry teacher at TCS, taught AP Calculus AB at Colegio Jorge Washington in Cartagena, Colombia. Next semester she is proceeding onward from tenth-grade geometry and going back to AP Calculus both AB and BC here at TCS.

Why is she stepping in?

As current AP teacher Kassie Smith is leaving, Gabriela Passentino is stepping down as geometry teacher and reclaiming her position in a more advanced math class. “I think she is going to be an excellent fit,” Sam Edelstein, math coordinator, said. “ She use to teach AP Calculus in Cartagena,” he later added. The school wound up in a position where they required somebody to teach this AP course who is steady here in Medellin and who they knew wouldn’t quit after a year of teaching it. “They didn’t want to bring in a brand new teacher and to have them leave after one year. Therefore the school knows that I bought a farm, that I have a family and that I am staying here, so it’s better to have a teacher who has been here and they know will be here at least for more than just one year,”  Passentino said.

What are her worries and concerns

Ms. Gaby is very excited and fairly apprehensive about changing courses. For some teachers their first year is extreme, yet for Gaby, she already knows the students and feels upbeat about instructing the further developed ones.

“I think if you are a teacher no matter what, the first year you teach a subject is going to be hard because it’s the first time you are going through the curriculum,” Passantino said. “It’s good too because you are teaching the more advanced students and that is always fun but I mean you don’t get to know everyone. For this upcoming year, I know everyone, but when the 9th graders come I won’t know everyone. But it’s good because of those who end up taking both AB and BC; I’ll teach them for two years.” Passantino later added.

Despite the fact that she feels exceptionally comfortable with the subject, she is feeling somewhat apprehensive not just because it’s been a long time since she last taught it, but because of her family.

“I feel very comfortable with the topic as far as my family; I’m just going to try to work as much as I can here because when I go home, I can’t work at home because I have two babies that I need to take care of,” Passentino said. She will do most of the work here at school and concentrating on her family at home.

What will be changing

As for the curriculum, it will continue as before for AB, tho BC’s curriculum will be adjusted because it is incomplete.  “All the curriculum will be the same as sam’s curriculum, the way that he designed but I will be adding more to the BC curriculum because I know that it is not as well developed, but the AB will be the same but with different test versions,” Gaby said.

“This course is very well designed, and we spent a whole day working and training, she will be using the same curriculum and will be very good,” Edelstein said.

Another thing she is changing is the classroom because she won’t be moving to the traditional AP Calculus room, she will be keeping her room but modifying it to be more of a calculus environment.

“I’m keeping this classroom, and I know that everyone feels like it will be a geometry environment but all of the geometry stuff will go, and I will be adding more calculus stuff off the walls,” Passentino said. Finally, she will be keeping the binder set up.

Things in AP Calculus next year will be very similar to what other past years have done, yet Ms.Gaby will put her twist to this classroom. “I feel very good, and I am very excited to be teaching the advanced math students that I already know. See you all next year!” Passentino said.