Anthony Brown is currently filling in as a history teacher at Westford Academy for Michael Colson. He is extremely excited to be teaching at WA and hopes to make this year the best it can possibly be.

Q: When you went to college, did you know you wanted to be a teacher, or did you not know at the time?

A: I originally went in for criminology, and that lasted about two weeks. Then, I kind of re-evaluated as I had always loved history and done well in history. So, I took that and I took an education class because it covered three of the requirements that I needed, and I ended up loving it. 

Q: How many years have you been teaching for?

A: I started substituting in 2016.

Q: I know that you are a substitute right now, but have you always been a substitute up to this point?

A: I was doing day-to-day teaching last fall, and I did student teaching. Basically, what I did was I took over three out of the five classes of another teacher at a high school, and I taught them from September to December.

Q: Where did you teach before you came to WA?

A: I taught in Wilmington and Woburn.

Q: Why did you want to come to WA?

A: Westford Academy has a huge reputation in the education world for being a really good school district. I didn’t know a lot about Westford, but I applied in the spring for a job, and that’s when I started looking into it and there were a lot of things that WA had that I liked. One of them was the motivated students, academically, but also outside of the classroom. 

Q: When you started teaching social studies, did you know that it was definitely the subject that you wanted to teach?

A: I can barely do math so that was automatically a no, and I always loved history so it was kind of a no-brainer for me. 

Q: From a teacher’s perspective, what would you say the hardest change has been due to COVID?

A: I think the hardest is having half of the class at a time because it is hard to develop that personality. I have definitely missed that.

Q: Would you say there have been any positive changes because of COVID this year?

A: I actually love the hybrid model that we came up with. My town came out with one and I think it is much more challenging. Ours at WA is more consistent with when we see our classes. 

Q: Would you ever want to become a full-time teacher?

A: Oh, absolutely, I would be absolutely thrilled to be here with a full-time gig. 

Q: What are some things you would miss out on if you are a full-time teacher and not a sub?

A: I wouldn’t get to know as many students, but I’m okay with that because I’d be able to create stronger relationships with my students. That is something that I especially take pride in and prioritize in my classes. 

Q: Describe how you think this year has gone so far.

A: I think it’s gone pretty well. I think the key to this year is we’re figuring it out as we go, and just kind of being patient and flexible because there are a lot of moving parts. So I think the year has gone well.

Q: Lastly, what’s your favorite part of WA so far?

A: The students and the staff. The staff has been really welcoming and the students are excited to be in school, so that’s probably my favorite part, the students and the staff.