The semester at Boothbay Region High School (BRHS) may be coming to a close, but for its newest staff member, Ally Ryan, 24, this is only the beginning. This is her first year as a full-time educator. Ryan teaches life science. She succeeds Sherrie Hersom.

"This school has been really great. All the teachers I've been working with have been amazing, so helpful, so awesome,” said Ryan. 

Originally from western Maine, Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s in science and teaching from UMaine Orono. She has always had an interest in anatomical biology, which she credits to growing up surrounded by the medical field with both parents working in nursing. Ryan’s mother even brought her into the operating room a few times. Ryan wasn't sure if she wanted to be a doctor, but still pursued a pre-med track as an undergraduate. Besides, she'd always been fonder of that side of biology than plants.

“I'm still really bad with plants. I struggle to keep them alive,” she said, laughing. “My students are watering my plants right now in (my classroom).” 

The second semester of her junior year, Ryan decided to switch gears, inspired by her time as a main learning assistant. The role, similar to that of a teaching assistant, saw Ryan on stand-by during lectures to help students understand practice problems and other class materials. During this time, Ryan also had to complete a brief pedagogy course on good teaching methodologies, and her enjoyment of the subject solidified her decision to continue teaching.  

After grad school, she moved to Brunswick, unsure of where her career would take her. That’s when she saw the opening at BRHS. She had spent some time in the region before, visiting a cousin during her summer job, and her parents had gotten married during Gardens Aglow at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

She recalled the school's welcoming atmosphere during her first interview and the subsequent tour. “Everyone just made me feel like this was a place where I could really see myself.” 

However, entering her first year as a teacher was still daunting. She was worried how high school students would react to her younger age, and whether they would recognize her authority as an instructor, a fear that has since dissipated as students have proven "very respectful.” The other fear came from the horror stories she’d heard from other first-year teachers.  

While she agrees that this semester has been “a lot” in terms of being busy, especially the shift from having two weeks to plan one lesson during her student teaching days to having to get materials ready the night before, the experience has otherwise been positive. Her colleague and mentor teacher, Emily Higgins, has been instrumental in helping Ryan with the transition and is always quick to help when Ryan is feeling overwhelmed. “I don't know where I would be without her,” said Ryan. 

Ryan is also thankful for the freedom the school administration has granted her by allowing more creativity to be incorporated into the curriculum. Ryan’s master’s thesis focused on how artistic expression can reinforce lessons. For example, when she was a student educator, she had students write haikus about anatomy, which challenged them to reduce the complex structure and functional relationships of the human body into short lines. This also meant substituting biological language that wouldn’t fit into the haiku’s short form for metaphorical terms, which the students then had to justify. 

“You have to have a good understanding of something to represent it in a new and unique way,” Ryan explained.  

Ryan has since implemented this theory into her classes at BRHS with projects such as transforming the classroom into a giant cell or having students draw giant skeletons made out of bone names written in the shape of each bone (which were hung in the hallway just in time for Halloween). She already has plans for teaching marine science this coming semester, including portable touch tanks and guest speakers from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

Ryan has also noticed a growing rapport between her and students, with more stopping in to just say hi, tell a story, or even draw her a picture to decorate her classroom. In turn, this growing relationship has made students more eager to engage with her lessons.  

“I just feel like I'm starting to build a relationship with the students in a way that makes me excited to come to school every day,” she said.