Ashley Cobb, a middle school mathematics teacher at Jefferson Middle School Academy in Washington, DC, has been a Mentor Teacher for students in GWTeach courses since 2016. This year she has been named as GWTeach's Mentor Teacher of the Year.
"Watching students embrace math and make real world connections," is what Cobb describes as the most rewarding aspect of teaching.
Now in her 11th year in the classroom, Cobb says that her inspiration to become a Mentor Teacher for the GWTeach program was to, "assist aspiring teachers with the transition from student to classroom." She does this by, "letting them know how fun and rewarding the profession is."
Ms. Cobb has been hosting Avani Gandhi '22 for the duration of the Spring 2022 semester, as Gandhi completes her final internship to seek licensure as a math teacher.
Avani has thrived under the mentorship of Ms. Cobb and said one thing that she values most about Ms. Cobb is that "she encourages me if I am lacking confidence and guides me to problem solve for myself." Additionally, Avani values that Ms. Cobb helped her integrate into the strong community at Jefferson Middle School, which allowed her to learn and grow alongside multiple educators.
For Cobb, the most rewarding aspect of being a Mentor Teacher is being able to, "watch student teachers lean into themselves and realizing what makes them comfortable as future educators."
We are so lucky to have Ms. Cobb's ongoing support and we are excited for her to work with more of our prospective teachers in the future! Thank you, Ms. Cobb, for being an inspiration to so many GWTeach students!