Photo by Hedi Skali
Grace Tourtelotte
News Reporter
Donna Gordon, the current Wheeler House dean will be leaving South at the end of this school year. It was recently announced that Meaghan Martin, who has taught at South since 2005 as an English teacher, will be taking this position starting in the fall of 2020.
Martin has taught English at all grade levels. She is well known and loved by many South students. She is one of the co-founding teachers of the highly popular Global program, and currently director of the CORE program, which was created to benefit kids who need academic support.
Martin has loved her time teaching at Newton South, and especially appreciates the connections she has been able to make with her students. Although the new dean position will change interactions with her students, she is excited for the opportunity to figure out how to incorporate her current communication styles to make the dean position feel more friendly and open.
“The thing I love the most about working at South is getting to know a lot of different students and working with students to help them navigate challenges and celebrate accomplishments,” Martin said.
While thinking about the new position, Martin acknowledges that there will be differences and hardships becoming a dean, but she knows she will be able to embrace those challenges and have a great experience.
“I was really drawn to the dean position because it would be a way for me to be able to work with, help, and get to know more students and more of my colleagues,” Martin said.
A big part of being a dean is dealing with student’s challenges, and Martin hopes to incorporate her communication strengths to support and encourage students to stay motivated.
“I’m big on letting students make mistakes and then helping them learn from them. Let’s work through this problem, own it, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m also big on having them know that I’m not going to hold something against them,” Martin said.
Overall, Martin is prepared and excited to transition into the dean position. She is hopeful that she will be able to make an impact on more of the South community with her larger role, and is thankful she is being given this opportunity.
