By: Rachel Spears — Political Editor

With a new friendly face in the halls, Mrs. Kowalski is excited to make Sharon High School her new school home. 

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic and now, in a competitive job market, many SHS teachers have chosen to retire from, or leave teaching. This has led to an increase in new teachers this school year, a year of transition. Mrs. Maryann Kowalski, a French teacher, is a part of this new wave of teachers that is transforming SHS. 

Kowalski, who grew up in Massachusetts, has returned after eleven years of teaching at a public charter school in Los Angeles, CA. “I just moved back to Massachusetts to be closer to my family and my husband’s family,” she explained.

She expressed her love for Massachusetts saying “I missed the weather,” she added, “I get excited by the rain because there has been a drought here but also in Los Angeles.”

She attended Bryn Mawr College, a women’s college in the Philadelphia metropolitan area but before that, she took a gap year. “I studied for a year in Belgium-in the French speaking part-so that’s where I became fluent in French,” she said.

Mrs. Kowalski discovered her passion for teaching after having opportunities to tutor her peers while she was in high school. “I tutored in French and German and math and I just loved teaching other people and so I knew I wanted to become a teacher,” she said.

Ultimately, she chose to teach French in a high school setting which she really enjoys. “Teaching language is the most fun because you can play games, and sing songs, and talk about yourself, and talk about the world, and as long as you’re doing it in the target language, you’re learning,” she said. “I just think that being a language teacher is the best!” Kowalski remarked.

Kowalski was drawn to the town of Sharon and SHS because of its close proximity to various New England sites and cities. “The location between Boston, Providence, and Cape Cod, it was a perfect location for me,” she said. When she began telling people that she had accepted a job in Sharon, they did not hesitate to compliment the district. “It wasn’t until after I accepted the job that I realized how lucky I was,” she shared.

In her time at SHS she has gotten to know the community better and spoke highly about the students and the staff. “Everyone is committed to the students, everyone is organized and knows what they’re doing,” she said about the staff, “and the students have just been so sweet to me too, and enthusiastic about learning. They’re so eager to learn and I have students who are passionate about French,” she added.

“It’s been really nice. It’s been a dream job,” she said.