“If you ask any of my students if I’m weird, they might say yes.” Correcting himself, English teacher Jason Tamborini said, “They will say yes.”
Tamborini, a new teacher this school year, recently moved from Massachusetts, where he taught special education after earning a master’s degree from Emerson College.
“I just felt like I needed a change of venue,” he said. “It was time to do something different.”
Here, Tamborini is involved with theatre, and he helps “build sets [and works] with some of the students.”
Calling on his musical theatre background (in Massachusetts, Tamborini had been involved in technical direction and he has a degree in musical theatre performance), Tamborini attended the recent VHSL regional theatre competition where Marshall placed third.
“It was a great experience; I think the students left, albeit a little disappointed, they came away with a learning experience,” he said.
In his free time, Tamborini reads “constantly” and he writes fiction, primarily short stories although he is working on a young-adult piece.
“I’ll read everything and anything, from children’s books to ancient history,” he said. “Everything would be up for grabs.”
Tamborini has not published his writing, but he hopes to in the future.
When he was a high school student, Tamborini said he struggled with inflexible learning styles and a strict environment.
This experience, according to Tamborini, shapes how he teaches today: “I think that’s something that here at Marshall we do very well; we allow students to take their own path.”
Tamborini is looking forward to the rest of the school year and the upcoming content he will be teaching to his English 11 and English 12 students.
“I’m looking forward to fourth quarter with my juniors. I’m hoping that they’ll find it interesting and that it will be as good an experience as I’m planning it out to be,” he said.
In general, Tamborini said his experience at the school thus far has been good.
“I really enjoy working here; I enjoy the department that I work with,” he said. “Everyone’s been really welcoming.”