Samantha Mossman

I first came to the Hudson Valley when I was still a teenager for my first year of college at SUNY New Paltz. I picked the college because I fell in love with the mountains on first sight and they had a horseback riding team, my passion that I have been participating in for about fifteen years. I studied Secondary Education: English and a minor in Creative Writing at New Paltz and then went back for my Masters in Secondary Education: English. I got my first full time job teaching at a charter school in Newburgh, at a school called Newburgh Prep. I was going to school full time at night for half a year and teaching during the day. It was exhausting but seeing my kids smiling faces every morning made it worth it.

I went to college thinking that I would major in just English and figure out the rest from there but once I saw that an English degree was more likely to get me a job in some stuffy office, I quickly switched to education. I had always loved the thrill of being in the classroom and sharing my ideas that I thought that sharing my love of English with students was better than typing some marketing memo in an office. And I was proven right when I started my student teaching and fell in love.

I currently work at Poughkeepsie High School teaching 11th grade English. While Poughkeepsie can have a bad rap because of the constant media covering the absolute worst and tragic events that transpire in the community, I love my job. I love working with my 11th graders who are fighting every year to pass that English regents so that they can graduate. I had my first set of seniors this year that I had as 11th graders and I was there at their graduation, screaming my head off for each one of them that walked the stage. My kids don’t always come from the best places or have a safe place to be so my goal as there teacher is to provide them that safe space for that year. I had many students who were seniors that would come back just to visit me because they knew that my room was one where they could come talk about their problems, sit and listen to music, catch up on work, or just put their head down and rest on their off periods. A stuffy office job would never have enabled me to help these kids and for them to help me. I have learned so much as their teacher, beyond all of the new slang words that just seem to multiply every new school year. I build relationships with my students that I hope show them that someone cares for them.