By Jenny Shen ’23
Teacher of the Mathematics department, instructor of the theater program, part of the FGS’s activity team, and holder of the new Thomas R. King ’60 Family Teaching Chair award, Ms. Brush is a young and aspiring teacher who’s relatively new to our campus. However, how much do you actually know about this vibrant and active member of our community? Would you ever guess that she was in the top 0.1% of Ariana Grade listeners on Spotify last year? For those who barely know her, this article is your chance to set foot into Ms. Brush’s world!
Ms. Brush graduated from Hamilton College in 2020, majoring in math and music. Shortly after her college graduation, Ms. Brush joined the FGS community and currently lives in Browne House as a house parent. As previously mentioned, she is a math teacher, a theater performer, and a member of the outdoor program and the FGS’s activity team, where she takes part in planning weekend activities for all students.
When asked why she chose to become a teacher at FGS, Ms. Brush said: “I was always worried about pigeonholing myself into one specific field because I had so many different academic interests like math, music, and Spanish. Independent schools like this, especially here, give me the ability to maintain all those interests.”
When further asked why she specifically chose to teach math, Ms. Brush expressed that: “Math is something academic that I get really excited about in a different way than music or Spanish. There are moments in math when things just line up perfectly, and the process of solving and checking problems is extremely satisfying to me. I want to portray this excitement to my students, at least showing them how math can also be cool and beautiful.”
During her time at the Frederick Gunn School, one of Ms. Brush’s most memorable moments is her experience in last year’s winter musical, The Spelling Bee. She expressed that the musical was really fulfilling and it brought back flashbacks of her high school musical performances, like her nervousness before the opening show.
