Nick Hanson
Music teacher
The Potomac School, McLean
Years teaching: 19
An Iowa native, Hanson earned a bachelor’s in music with a concentration in handbells from Concordia University in Irvine, California, where he taught the instrument for two years as an adjunct professor. In 2006, he joined Potomac’s music department, growing the handbell program to include 139 students in grades 5 through 12. He was one of two teachers to receive the school’s 2022 Bill Cook Award for Excellent Teaching.
“A lot of handbell jobs fall into a church or religious category. When Potomac’s former handbell teacher suggested I apply for the job, it was one of those leap-of-faith moments where I knew what I wanted to do.
The handbell is a percussion instrument. With this age group, I incorporate more pop music rather than folk tunes or religious songs. At one end-of-year assembly, seventh- and eighth-graders did an arrangement of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” I heard the audience’s reaction, and that was the moment I recognized the students were feeling it. I’ve kept the tradition of performing pop songs in place ever since.
Our students don’t take the instruments home, so during Covid Zoom classes, we had to adapt. Handbells is a team effort, and all of a sudden they weren’t in the same room together. I had students finding pingpong paddles, water bottles, flashlights, lint rollers—things they could just have in their hand. I would put on a metronome and observe motion, beats and how kids were working together. Muscle memory is key to what we do with this instrument. When they came back into the classroom and held bells, we were able to take off with the notes and pitches, and the rhythms took care of themselves.
I believe the arts are key to the mental health of our kids, and that mental health is a serious problem in the U.S. What’s made it so much harder is social media—the access to instant gratification or the feeling that you need to be present in those moments all the time.
I wish all students could have something creative as part of their high school career. It would allow their academic side to be turned down a little bit, so they could be free to let things out in a creative way.”
Stephanie Lin
Investigation Station science lab teacher
Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, Arlington
Years teaching: 14
A California native, Lin holds a bachelor’s degree in hospitality from Cornell University and a master’s in education from George Washington University. She joined Arlington Science Focus as a second-grade teacher in 2009 and became the Investigation Station science lab teacher in 2012. In 2020, the Northern Virginia PTA named her Outstanding Educator of the Year.
“I used to want to own or manage a restaurant. Then I got to school and there were so many interesting classes, but I wasn’t passionate about any of them. Reflecting on my past jobs, I realized I was happiest when I was working with kids.
It’s important for students to construct their own understanding. I don’t give them the answer right away. They need to figure it out because that’s how their understanding will be deeper.
Investigation Station is a science lab serving kindergartners through fifth-graders. One of the activities when we’re learning about energy transformations is building an art robot. They’re given a set amount of materials, along with a motor and a battery, and they have to use those things to get their robots to draw something on paper. It’s probably one of the toughest engineering challenges I give students. There’s a lot of problem-solving. When their robots finally start to draw, they are so excited.
I form connections with students through clubs, too. I coach an after-school Lego robotics team of fourth- and fifth-graders, helping them prepare for a tournament. It’s important to build a sense of community, because for them to do well, they have to trust and learn more about each other.
I also am in charge of Aquarium Club, where third-graders come and feed our fish. From February through May, our Underwater Grasses Club grows underwater grasses, which we then plant in the waterway at Mason Neck State Park.
Not every student is going to become a scientist or engineer, but I want to make sure they are given the chance to develop that genuine love for learning.”
Badara “Papa” Dia
Instructional teacher and soccer coach (boys and girls)
Kenmore Middle School, Arlington
Years teaching: 21
Dia grew up in Mali and came to the U.S. in 2001, at age 19, to play professional soccer. While training and learning English, he began volunteering at Barcroft Elementary School and earned an associate degree in education from Northern Virginia Community College. In addition to working at Kenmore, he also coached varsity girls’ soccer at Wakefield High School from 2009-2015.
“Growing up, I was always the one teaching people. I would have a board in front of me trying to tell my siblings how to do things. I became a coach for the group of kids I was playing soccer with. I’ve always wanted to understand anyone that I’ve met. I figure that’s the best humanity. In order to get along with people, you have to understand people first.
I’m a very disciplinary person, but I do it through love and care. Everybody who walks into my classroom has to say good morning. If you don’t, I make you go out and come back and say it. When you leave my classroom, you’ve got to make sure there’s nothing on top of the desk. Education isn’t limited to adding and subtracting or reading and science. You have to teach manners, how to address other people. Kids think you’re strict, but at the same time, they love you because they begin to understand you care.
I use the same approach with Papadia United Soccer Heroes (PUSH), the nonprofit I started in 1994 to sponsor a youth soccer club for boys and girls in Bamako, Mali. The club includes players ages 7 to 17. I started with 14 kids. Now we have 317 kids and 14 coaches that I pay out of my salary every month. The name reflects what I aim to do: I will push kids to stay off the streets, I will push kids to stay in school, I will push kids to see the benefit of life, I will push kids to do their best.
Everything comes through education. There’s nothing in this life that you do without going through education. We don’t go to school to take all those subjects because we want to become something in all those subjects. We go to school to find what suits us, what we envision in life.”
Eric Duchaj
Social studies, history and hybrid classroom (HY-C) teacher
Meridian High School, Falls Church
Years teaching: 14
Duchaj grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, and attended Northern Michigan University as a football recruit. He taught for seven years at Lackey High School in Indian Head, Maryland, before joining the staff at Meridian. He also serves as vice president of The Children’s School, a nonprofit established by APS employees as an inclusive early childhood program.
“I’m a hybrid classroom (HY-C) teacher. HY-C allows students to complete coursework online with teacher support, accessing assignments in person or virtually. I teach world history, government, U.S. history, economics, personal finance, P.E. and health.
The HY-C courses I teach are, to some extent, individually tailored to kids’ specific needs. We have kids who are struggling in a typical classroom and can benefit from one-on-one instruction. We also have students who are going full IB diploma and need to fulfill certain course requirements online. Each student has unique goals. I like that I have all those different angles.
In a typical classroom, I teach world history and African American history. I don’t like to lecture. I’m not very good at it, and I don’t think anybody learns a lot when I’m lecturing. I do a lot of group work, circulate the room, talk with the kids. I like to let them make arguments and see where they’re coming from.
I connect best with students by being genuine. I get to know them over time by teaching and interacting with them. If the class is too much about you as a teacher, you’re going to burn out. You’re trying to find ways to be cool, when really they just want authenticity.”
Deitra Brady-Pulliam
Third-grade teacher
Hoffman-Boston Elementary School, Arlington
Years teaching: 20
A native of New Rochelle, N.Y., Brady-Pulliam has taught pre-K through college. She began her career in New York City Public Schools before joining Oak Ridge Elementary in 2002 and Hoffman-Boston in 2006. She is the 2023 Arlington Public Schools Teacher of the Year.
“Third grade is when students begin to go to that place where exploration means self-discovery. They own what they’re learning by posing questions and making attachments to real-world situations. They switch seats from being a passenger to the driver of their learning.
I want to make connections with all my students. I am intentional in learning at least three things about each child. We hold daily morning meetings to promote a sense of classroom culture, but also to provide a sense of belonging within the building. Students get in the habit of sharing how and what they celebrate. They talk about how they spend time with their families on weekends and holidays. As a result, we all learn about one another’s interests, hobbies and pastimes.
When students share things that say, “This is who I am,” you can bet I’m going to follow up. Usually I will have them explain or bring something in, such as an artifact, family memorabilia or, at times, a guest speaker—something to make them feel that school is an extension of who they are.
Social-emotional connections are critical, especially since Covid. Each morning, we sit down and declare what kind of day we will have. We use words like strong, capable, loved, smart and resilient to describe who we are and to set the intention for the day.
I’m part of a mentoring group called Youth Experiencing Success (YES), an initiative of APS. I work with other teachers to learn about the challenges our students face and set up opportunities for them to be successful. We’re promoting participation through volunteering; basically promoting character.
I live to hear three words: I get it. That’s what makes me know that I’m doing the right thing in the right moment in the right place for the right group of young people.”
Hope Lambert
Theater teacher
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Arlington
Years teaching: 29
Lambert attended the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Georgetown and earned a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University. She is a co-founder of Arlington’s Educational Theatre Co., where she taught for 25 years before joining H-B in 2019. This year she was one of four Northern Virginia educators to receive a Wolf Trap Grant for High School Performing Arts Teachers.
“I started teaching to earn supplemental income between acting jobs, but it turned out to be what I really enjoyed. Every student, environment and community offers a range of experiences. The teaching part of that journey has always made it pretty clear that I’m in the right profession.
A typical workday includes rehearsing plays with high school classes and devising short scenes to be performed with my middle school classes. My tech theater classes are always working in support of the student-directed theater we have at H-B. They build and design for those shows.
I’m interested in helping students build leadership skills and the ability to communicate under pressure. Every theatrical experience brings a little bit of pressure and anxiety. How do you move through that?
My first year at H-B was the year we were sent home for the pandemic. We’re still recovering from that. Mental health has seemed, at times, very urgent. To draw students out you don’t have to do too much. In my experience, they’re willing to share what they’re interested in. It’s just being available and open to hearing it.
Each spring, 12 to 15 students propose plays of varying lengths that they’d like to direct the following year. Last year, we did The Lightning Thief. We had never done a full-length musical in our black box theater. We didn’t know how that would go, but we had this great production. A high school senior directed it. Hopefully she’ll carry that memory and the sense of accomplishment with her for the rest of her life.”
Stephanie Kanowitz is the digital editor for Arlington Magazine, a freelance writer and a mom filled with gratitude for teachers.