We’ll miss Mr. Davis (Even if he’s not going very far)

By Abigail Miller, Sophomore

Mr. Davis never set out to be a principal, but he made it his goal to be the best one he could be while he worked at Nazareth High School. He did his best to bond with his students over 17 years in this position and has enjoyed almost every minute of it. With his move to becoming the director of secondary teaching and learning, he’ll be working closely with teachers to plan out the curriculums of different subjects across middle and high school.

After teaching at Emmaus High School (I know, awful, right?) for two years he started shadowing their vice principal to earn his master's degree. The current principal, unfortunately, fell ill and had to go on medical leave from November to the end of the school year. That meant that the assistant principal had to move up and fill his role as principal. Knowing that Mr. Davis was starting his internship, they reached out and offered him the position of acting assistant principal and hired a substitute teacher for his class. 

With all the hours he needed, Mr. Davis left for the summer thinking he had the best internship experience for the teaching job he thought he would be returning to in the fall. Little did he know that while he and his family were on vacation he would come home to a voicemail on his answering machine telling him that the vice principal was moving up and they would like him to come back the next school year as the official vice principal.

He went on to be the assistant principal at Emmaus for another year before applying to the vice principal at Nazareth. As you might have guessed, he got the job. He was vice principal here at Nazareth for 3 years before becoming principal for another 17.

Everything just happened to fall into place at just the right time. Especially considering that when asked what his dream job would have been, he said he would have loved to work for either the Phillies or the Eagles. In a way, he still got what he wanted, even if our mascot is the Blue Eagle.

Photo from Twitter

As Principal of the Blue Eagles, he did his best to connect and get to know his students. He attended as many games as he could in his time here, not wanting to be the typical old principal locked away in his office. He wanted to see his students’ accomplishments “whether it's academic success, or athletics, or the music department, or theater, you know,  just seeing students in a different light…. Not just in the hallway or in the classroom… but seeing them participate, succeed, perform… is always exciting to me.”

As the director of secondary teaching and learning, Mr. Davis will be overseeing the education of the students in the high school as well as the middle school. He will be focusing on bigger-picture items like curriculum and general education rather than the day-to-day nuances of just the high school.

He is looking forward to the change of pace, hopefully, something slower. He believes that “change is good for the person and the organization” and thinks it’s “time for someone with a different perspective” to come in and shake things up at the high school. That's where Mr. Breidinger comes in.

Sometime between now and January Mr. Breidinger will leave Easton High School, where he's worked for 18 years, and step into the new role as principal. This will be a taxing job, but Mr. Davis has full confidence that he can handle it. Working less than 10 miles away, Mr. Breidinger can use the different environments of Easton to his advantage working at Nazareth. 

Don't worry seniors, your principal of 3.5 years will still be able to send you off at graduation. Mr. Davis and Mr. Breidinger will be doing a joint graduation ceremony to welcome Mr. Breidinger and say farewell to Mr. Davis. This will be a great way to end the 17-year-long chapter at Nazareth and start drafting a new one.

Allie Asks: Mr. Davis, Mr. Amato, & Mrs. Tashner

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FEATURE: Dr. Resende Inspires Students

By Allie Talarico

In the top corner above the Assistant Superintendent’s desk is a small sign which reads “Live your life with purpose and intention.” When it comes to her own life, Dr. Isabelle Resende has always been driven by goals of inspiring young women to pursue careers in STEM. These intentions come from a lifetime of experiences working in genetic research and science.

Similar to her own drive as an educational professional, Dr. Resende was first inspired by a teacher of her own. Though she claims she did not meet society’s ‘qualifications’ for being the perfect student-being a first generation immigrant who barely knew a word of English when she entered elementary school- her high school biology teacher instilled a passion for solving problems which were aimed to better society.

Photo Credit: Nazarethasd.org

After graduating from Moravian College, Resende did just that. Dr. Resende went to Maryland post grad to work under Dr. Craig Venter on the Human Genome Project. The Human Genome Project was a decade long venture, discovering the complex and beautiful workup of genetics in the human body. Taking ode to previous DNA studies, The Human Genome Project separated the nucleotides of extracted DNA tagging each sequence, and sorting them into the “book of life.” After the DNA segments were tagged, researchers had the ability to analyze the sequences and detect any abnormalities for various ailments ranging from heart disease to diabetes. In her sector of the lab, Dr. Resende was one of the only females of the dominantly male group, working day and night to bend the stereotype set in place for women in science.

Following the Human Genome Project, Resende moved to further humanitarian work and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, researching Neuroblastoma, an often fatal form of pediatric cancer. Her work at CHOP was long and tedious, as she spent hours upon hours working with other world renowned scientists trying to find a genetic explanation for the cancer. While the work was nonprofit, Resende knew that monetary value was not the point of science. “How are you helping human society?” She asks. “How are you helping your community? Nonprofit work provided help for families to come,” she explained, expressing her gratitude for the work. Dr. Resende and her team were published in Nature Genetics, a prestigious scientific magazine following their outstanding work in helping the families of tomorrow battle through the toughest time of their lives.

By then, Dr. Resende had already accomplished so much in her career, but she felt that she was at a crossroads. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a graduate degree in Biochemistry, she had planned to run her own research laboratory. However, she noticed that while fulfilling, a lab hindered her ultimate passion-human interaction. Now she had a choice: would she go into nursing, a fairly scientific approach, or would she share her experiences and better society through inspiring youth in the classroom? She chose the latter, attending Lehigh University to obtain her master’s in education. From there, Dr. Resende never stopped teaching-or learning. While teaching AP Biology for many years, she earned her certification to become principal and from there her administrative certification.

Looking around her office, at all the things she had accomplished through her career, I asked her what her greatest accomplishment was. She says that it was her ability to inspire several female students to go on into scientific research to reshape the gender game like she had. “It’s all about connections.” She recounts. “And relationships. And how we work together to make that goal.” In fact she said it best: “It’s not about a position or a title. It’s about encouraging others to find your own dreams.”  She made it clear that dreams are not always a clear path. In fact, dreams often change while you’re in them. “I often look around and ask myself how did I get here?” she says, smiling. While her long term goal in high school was not to be the Assistant Superintendent of one of the best school districts in the state, Dr. Resende feels that she is where she belongs and fulfilling her purpose.

Every day Dr. Resende inspires young girls in our district to reach their goals in STEM careers. Through her story, dedication to the community, and willingness to keep learning, she is continuing to spread her message.

I closed our conversation by asking advice for young girls who are interested in careers in science. Her face lit up as if she had been waiting for the question her whole life. “If you have a passion for life, and you’re curious about the world around you, go for it. Challenge yourself.”