Emily Townsend and Rain Camerlinck
Bastos
Testing Specialist Lia Bastos is a new support staff member this year. She makes sure that students who need testing accommodations receive extra time, audio arrangements, and separate testing rooms. She also takes care of the logistics of testing and organizes where and when tests are taken.
Bastos was born in Brazil and moved to northern New Jersey during her sophomore year of high school. Her schooling in Brazil was far different from the school system here. She said that in Brazil she would “attend classes from eight a.m. to six p.m., and took 17 classes a year.”
Bastos did not always know she wanted to be a teacher. She went to college at Penn State and majored in political science. While interning for a nonprofit in D.C. during her senior year, she realized that politics was not for her. “The best way to effect change is in a smaller scale,” Bastos said.
Prior to her move to T.C., she taught sixth grade math at a small middle school in Philadelphia. The school only had 400 kids which made it a hard adjustment moving from a small school to T.C.’s nearly 4000 students. She admitted to getting lost once or twice her first couple of days on campus.
Wiskur
Angela Wiskur is a new 10th grade English teacher, and is already involved in the school community. In addition to teaching English, Wiskur is also the yearbook teacher and JV Cheer coach. She never worked on her high school yearbook, but wanted to find a way to get involved in T.C.’s yearbook.
Wiskur hopes to “encourage young athletes and help build school spirit” through cheer. She said she enjoys coaching this “fun and exciting sport,” and wants to help give cheerleading a better reputation. “The cheer program is more like a family than just a sport,” said Wiskur.
Wiskur was born in Smithfield, Virginia, and went to the University of Virginia. She originally went to college for science, and majored in chemistry. After her first year of college, however, she realized that she was not passionate about chemistry, but about teaching instead.
Wiskur has always loved to read and write, and has enjoyed English since high school. “English provides access to opportunities,” said Wiskur. “[It] can help you make well informed decisions and advocate for yourself, it is important for all students to learn.”
“All the teachers at T.C. have heart — which you do not see at a lot of schools,” said Wiskur. She hopes to make the English department more hands on, and keep her students engaged and interested both in and out of the classroom.
Davis
Deandre Davis is another new face in T.C. He is now the City-Wide Special Education teacher. “[T.C.’s Special Education] program is very inclusive and adaptive to every students needs,” said Davis. He said that he especially appreciates this aspect of T.C.’s program because while his high school had a special education program, it was not as good as it should have been.
Davis was born and raised in Delaware and attended the University of Delaware, where he played college football. He never excelled in one specific subject, but always found special education interesting, because teaching and working with kids has always been something he enjoys. At the University of Delaware, he received a Major in Elementary Teaching Education with a focus on Special Education, and a Master’s in Autism/Severe Disabilities.
In addition to his job in he special education program, Davis has also assumed the role of Varsity wide receiver coach for the football team. Davis hopes to bring new energy and a different perspective to not only the special education program, but also the greater T.C. He is very excited to be working in such a large school with so many students.
Liss
Social studies teacher Nadia Liss is a new to teaching, but not new to T.C.! Liss graduated from T.C. in 2014. While she was a student, she cheered and played. After she graduated, she attended James Madison University, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in history and her Master’s in teaching.
Liss enjoys seeing and working with many of the teachers she had who still teach here, who have given her lots of support as she transitions from student to teacher. Liss’s mother also teaches at T.C. in the International Academy.
In her classroom, Liss hopes to develop student-teacher relationships to make a difference for her students. She would like to help her students become more independent in their school work and their lives. “How can we work together as a team,” Liss said is a question she frequently poses to her students. Liss feels that teamwork between herself and her students will create the best learning environment.
Liss is currently a moving teacher, which she finds enjoyable. She has a desk in the teacher workroom, where she can meet with other teachers and students before or after school.
