A new teacher at Triton, Drew Balanoff has been hired to teach science for middle school, and he takes a more hands on approach to teaching.

In an interview, the Triton Voice asked him what he thought of Triton so far. 

“I love it here,” he said. “I think the students are committed to learning and that the teachers are very welcoming.”

Balanoff has always been interested in how the human body works and he studied kinesiology in college to improve his own body and learn more about it. He is also eager to share this knowledge with his students. Balanoff  has been known to take his students outside and give them a learning experience that is a lot more interesting than what a typical science teacher might assign.

Alan MacRae, the middle school principal, took part in the hiring of Balonoff.

“We found him to be energetic and engaging from the start,” said MacRae. “We are very excited to watch him grow as a new teacher in our school.”

 Balonoff is very busy with his new year. 

He has multiple full classes of middle schoolers to deal with after all and he has his curious  students coming up  to him asking questions about their work. The middle schoolers also find him engaging 

A few students from his 7th grade class agreed that he was “…pretty chill.”

The students said they liked Balonoff’s outdoor experiments so much that they want to go outside more.

“He is a good mix of hands on and talking,” said one student.

Balonoff seems to have found the perfect teaching style to captivate and teach his young students. 

He is a very athletic person as well. Balonoff enjoys hiking and rock climbing and goes skiing in the winter. He used to be a ski instructor as well as a rock climbing guide before he got a job as a physical education teacher at Newburyport. His goal is to get his students to also love being outdoors. 

“I always enjoy being outside,” Balonoff said.