This year, Northwest had a particularly large influx of new faculty members, ranging from Math to Humanities teachers. As our school has always held a unique approach to education, it can be hard for new teachers to adjust to the unconventional learning environment of Northwest. However, in the case of the new 9th and 10th grade Humanities teacher, Dani Kim, things have gone considerably well.
Dani transferred from Nathan Hale High School, a public school in north Seattle, where she had been teaching. Dani also has a background in teaching abroad, as she worked at two schools in Seoul, South Korea. In an interview, Dani revealed that she decided to teach at Northwest because of its “reputation for being a social justice school and the fact that it’s the only [Seattle] private school that was recognized by the public school system for moving towards a more equitable and progressive curriculum.”
Dani originally got into teaching to pay off her student loans, but soon fell in love with the job and decided to dedicate her life to it. So far, she has reported that she has really enjoyed working at Northwest: “I deeply appreciate having colleagues that are both POC and allies, as they empower me to speak up and actually listen. It’s a painful process to even be taken seriously because of my intersectional identity.” But she also said that there were certain aspects of Northwest that were different from her past teaching jobs – for instance, the ratio of class time and office hours.
Outside of school, Dani enjoys psychoanalyzing movies and “petting other people’s dogs”. She is currently reading A Cruelty to Our Species: Poems by Jungmin Yoon. A fun fact about Dani is that she described herself as a “walking omen – I’ve witnessed a total of 12 public breakups of random couples.” As a piece of advice, Dani would tell Northwest students to focus on receiving a quality education rather than just obtaining “good” grades.
Overall, there are many new additions to the Northwest teaching staff. For students, you’re encouraged to make them feel welcome by saying hello and introducing yourself – especially to Humanities teacher, Dani!
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