Emily Caspersen
"What attracted me to GSB is its feeling of warmth and balance. I toured many secondary schools with my four children, and Gill's sense of community truly stands out. When you walk around campus, students look engaged and happy. I also love the span of ages on campus. Having preschool-aged students through high school is special and a great reminder that education is a journey."
Position:
Middle School History Teacher
Education:
B.A. in English and American Literature and Language, Harvard College; M.A. in History, Brown University
Hometown:
Charleston, South Carolina
“Teachers help students learn academic skills and knowledge, but, more importantly, teachers plant seeds that apply to life more broadly. They encourage students to ask questions, probe, take risks, try things out, discover.”
Each day, Emily brings her love of the humanities and her passion for learning to our Middle School history students. She keenly identifies teaching as a people-oriented profession and thoughtfully notes that relationships are at its heart. Emily delights in teaching history, but moreover, she values the opportunity to work thoughtfully with her students and colleagues.
This connection to students is part of her family heritage. Emily’s mom, who taught middle school Latin, remains one of her favorite teachers because she shared her enthusiasm for words and her love of languages. Notably, another lesson Emily learned from her mother is to love her students as people and cherish watching them grow and thrive. In the classroom, Emily enjoys working with her students as they identify their interests, tap their curiosity, and investigate a variety of topics.
One of Emily’s favorite teaching moments happened when she watched her eighth graders present their research findings to their classmates. On a crisp fall day, her students spread out on the Todd Quad steps as one at a time, presenters shared their expertise, gleaned during a comprehensive project. They demonstrated strong speaking skills and cited noteworthy insights, making it a successful endeavor as well as a proud moment for a stalwart history teacher.