So, how is Ms. Alexis Cournoyer feeling about Triton so far?
“I’m liking it,” said Cournoyer. “It’s a sweet school, there’s a lot of great kids and I like having my own classroom. Yeah, I’m liking it a lot.”
Cournoyer, now residing in Salem, Mass., grew up in North Brookfield. It’s a town roughly an hour and a half away from Triton, so small that her graduating class was only 32 people.
Cournoyer knew she wanted to teach, but she did not realize high school was a class you could teach until later in life. So, she settled for elementary school. However, when she was in high school, she taught her English class (consisting of five people) what was happening in that class behind her teacher’s back, as none of them paid any attention and she did.
It was that scenario that made Cournoyer realize, “Oh, I could do this. This could be like, a job.”
This year is Cournoyer’s first year at Triton, but her third year teaching overall- previously she taught at Weston Academy, along with Georgetown and Lexington High School. She mentioned that at these other schools, she has never had her own classroom.
“This is my first time having my own classroom.” She said, “At all my other schools we had two teachers in each classroom to share.” She continued to say that all of the classes weren’t in one room; you did have to swap classrooms, despite the sharing of them.
Now she has a comfy classroom, and a way to make her classes more fun and interesting. She currently teaches junior and senior electives Travel Literature, Literary Nonfiction, and Contemporary Literature.
Each of these classes focus on media in some way; Nonfiction dealing with the question, “what is truth?” and focusing on the bias that certain media brings. They discuss if this bias alters what we consider to be truth. Travel Literature focuses on different experiences, different places, and how different people experience these different things. Contemporary is currently reading Educated. The students looked into the possibility of having a school where the students choose what to learn each day.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t really have a list of hates or loves quite yet,” Said Cournoyer, “I’m still adjusting.”
Alexis Novakouski, a student in one of Cournoyer’s Travel Literature classes, expressed her love for Cournoyer.
“Ms. Cournoyer is super sweet. She had a bunch of resources for students to use, like a phone charging station, extra chromebook chargers and stress doodles.” Novakouski said.
This class mainly focuses on Travel, and again, how different people experience these different things. It gives you more of a look into the lives of other people, teaching you to be more open minded of those around you.
Daniel Smith, a student in one of Cournoyer’s Literary Nonfiction classes, also had some positive words about Cournoyer.
“She’s amazing. She’s allowed me to write about Kanye West in every single one of my essays. Or at least incorporate him.” Smith says their class focuses on ‘real incidents.’
Despite the strong positive feelings, everyone, including Cournoyer, are still adjusting to the change of a new English teacher. There may be some bumps in the road along this journey, but Cournoyer says she is open and willing to help her students through whatever comes their way.
“I think that’s very important, that students have someone they feel comfortable talking to, and I don’t necessarily really think people should be afraid of their teachers,” said Cournoyer. “We’re here to like, help you and we want the best for you. We want great things.”
