Talya was recognized as a third grade teacher, Literacy Teacher and Team Leader and Pond Cove Elementary School, where she taught from 2004-2016. Talya now teaches at Riverton School in Portland, ME.
She started her teaching career as a second and third grade teacher at P.S. 23 Carter Woodson School in Brooklyn, NY. Her first teaching position in Maine was as the Program Coordinator for Project Safe and Smart at Lincoln Middle School in Portland. For two years, Talya was an adjunct instructor at Southern Maine Community College, teaching prep reading to English language learners. Now teaching Grade 5 at Cape Elizabeth Middle School, Talya holds a BA in Humanities from University of Michigan and an MS in Elementary Education from Brooklyn College.
Nominated by: Chris Straw (parent)
"[Talya] engages her students by identifying their interests and encouraging them to pursue these interests in areas outside of the standard curriculum. When some of her students developed an interest in origami (and began taking all of her square post-in notes), she encouraged their interest and tasked them with making an origami place setting for Thanksgiving."
