Revere Local Schools welcomed a new Family and Consumer Science educator who teaches students at both the middle school and high school.

Michele Delahunty began her career at Revere High school in the first few weeks of June, and has found great success so far in her Family and Consumer Science classes.

Doug Faris, principal of RHS, talked about the pressure the school was under to hire a new teacher.

“Her hiring process was a little bit crazy because it was the end of June when Mrs. Lyon sent her resignation letter, and Mrs. Lyon did not plan on resigning,” Faris said.

Faris talked about the process of hiring Delahunty and how her interviews went.

“So what we did is we posted a job for Mrs. Lyon’s spot, and Mrs. Delahunty and a couple other people applied. . . .  That first week of July we conducted interviews. So her interview process was really fast. Between the time it was conducted I would think two days later we did the first round and then a day or two later we did the second round,” Faris said.

Faris uncovered the main aspects of a new hire that he was looking for, and why Delahunty ultimately was the best candidate.

“We were looking for somebody that could understand and connect with middle school and high school kids, which she had. She had experience at the middle school, she has her own kids that are in college so she understands high school kids, and she really stood out in that regard as far as being our top candidate,” Faris said.

Faris talked about his gratitude in finding a candidate that checked all of their boxes and more.

“We were hopeful just to get somebody that was qualified but she has exceeded our expectations. She kind of was a little diamond in the rough so to speak,” Faris said.

Delahunty explained the classes that she teaches at the middle school.

“They call it personal transitions at the middle school and that’s a little bit of sewing and an introduction to cooking. And that’s just a nine week course,” Delahunty said.

Delahunty explained the range of ages that she teaches, and the classes she has at the high school.

“[I teach] seventh at the middle school, and then up here I have ninth through twelfth graders and I teach Foods I, Foods II, World Cuisine, and Clothing and Construction,” Delahunty said.

In her transition to Revere, Delahunty has uncovered just one challenge she had to overcome thus far.

“Coming to a new district is a challenge because [of] just getting used to how everything is done and the school day. And I travel so I go between the middle school and here,” Delahunty said.

Delahunty talked about her favorite part of teaching at RHS so far.

“The students here are really nice. They’re so engaged in learning, which is really nice to see. I like that,” Delahunty said.

Faris also noticed the positive attitudes from the students toward Delahunty.

“When I walk past their room and kids look like they’re engaged and having a good experience,” Faris said.

Faris talked about why Delahunty has so much success with her students, and how she translates her values into her classroom to create a positive environment.

“She recognizes that being in a high performing school, some of the kids taking her classes are also AP students and they might just need that little break to come and cook food or think about design and fashion or global cuisine or something. So she’s excited to tap into that and treat it more like (in addition to being a class and an elective) an experience for the kids where they can almost get that time to decompress a little bit,” Faris said.

Delahunty explained how she let her students experiment in her class while also assuring that they stay on task.

”It’s really more about being well planned and being proactive and not reactive. So being able to see ahead, like there’s certain activities where having practice for long enough, I know that’s not going to work for certain ages. And then other activities will be like, I think if I can give them certain expectations and certain rules they’re going to like that,” Delahunty said.

Bailey Bania, a senior at RHS and student of Delahunty’s, talked about an activity that they recently did in class.

“We took a wall, like a paper wall in between, [and there was] somebody on one side and then the other side, and you had to match a . . . parfait. We had to make it match the other person’s on the other side of the wall,” Bania said.

Delahunty explained her intent behind the activity and how it will teach her students while also allowing them to have fun.

“The point of that lesson was so that when they’re reading a recipe, directions are important and they really listen to directions when they’re doing this game but sometimes you give them a recipe, and they don’t even look at it. And so the whole point is that you really want something to turn out the right way you  need to follow directions,” Delahunty said.

Bania talked about how she feels about Delahunty and why.

“She’s really good at teaching. You can tell she likes what she teaches,” Bania said.

Faris stated what he sees in Delahunty’s future at RHS.

“She’s going to be a great fit for a long time here and I know she’s going to increase our numbers probably in the years. There are going to be kids signing up once they know her classes,” Faris said.

Delahunty’s previous teaching experience, her intelligent curriculum and her ability to connect with all age levels ensures that she will serve as a valuable member of the RHS community for years to come.