Teacher Tuesday – Meet Ms. Partridge!

Meet Ms. Partridge

Ms. Partridge is a 22-year math coach and math teacher with APS.  She has been at Swanson during her entire career with APS.  She describes her 22-year experience as follows, “While the general job description of a teacher remains the same, there have been many changes over the years.   The biggest change would have to be technology use – when I first started teachers did not have access to computers.   Now, even pre-pandemic, regular use of technology by teachers and students is expected.   But what has not fundamentally changed is the most important part of the job – the students.   While there are different students in our classrooms each year, and there are unique needs and challenges, the general joy of teaching students remains a constant from year to year.  I never tire of helping students gain access to new knowledge and understanding.   A skill that seemed so difficult to students in the fall becomes second nature by the spring as the students utilize the concept to solve new and harder problems.   I also enjoy interacting with students outside of the classroom.   Coaching track and MathCounts, as well as participating in the Chesapeake Bay overnight field trip with Ms. N-P, are extracurriculars I look forward to each school year.”

Ms. Partridge previously worked as a senior audit manager and certified public accountant (CPA) at Deloitte & Touche.  “While I enjoyed the technical challenges of my job and my interactions with co-workers, the sales side of the job was not something I enjoyed.   I was ready for a change of pace and looking to do something that was more impactful on a day to day basis.  At the time I was volunteering regularly on the weekends with KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now) and no matter how stressful the work week had been, I looked forward to interacting with the kids.  I had also enjoyed the teaching aspects of my accounting job and when I was awarded a fellowship to go to the University of Maryland to get a Master’s in Education my decision was made!   I have never regretted that decision (and 26 years later I still volunteer with KEEN Greater DC).”

Ms. Partridge would give the following advice to everyone, “Set some meaningful goals for yourself which involve actionable items on your part.  One of the first goals that I remember setting and following through on was based on an assignment from my high school French teacher.   In 9th grade, we had to create a travel itinerary to Europe and research the locations, transportation, restaurants, hostels, etc.  A friend and I decided that we wanted to actually take the trip.   Over the next three plus years we saved money from our jobs and worked out the logistics to travel to Europe after we graduated from high school.   I have enjoyed traveling ever since.  When I worked for Deloitte & Touche, I set a goal to be eligible for and apply to the company exchange program and ended up working in Australia for several months on an exchange.  I like traveling locally as well and have driven across the US and Canada border several times primarily camping and hiking.  From those travels I have slept in every state (except for 3 – it is on my goal list to visit them!), as well as in every province.   I enjoy hiking and the picture is of me on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.”

Ms. Partridge’s main reading is either related to teaching or news, but she also enjoys reading for pleasure too.  “I just finished An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor, which is the second book in a series about an Irish general doctor in the 1960’s.  The third book in on my night table ready to be started 😊.”

“As I ponder what I might want to do when I retire from teaching, I came up with a fun “job” idea.  I could be a test traveler for hiking vacations.   I don’t know if it’s actually a job that exists, but I thought that as tour companies put together new hiking itineraries, I would be happy to test them out and provide feedback!”