New Faculty Members at a Glance

Thirteen new faces joined the teaching faculty behind the red doors. Each new member of our community answered one of the following questions: 

What are your first impressions of the school?

Hass Abdul-Karim,
First Grade Associate

The first thing I thought when I walked into Browning was how warm and welcoming the community was. All of the faculty, students, and parents were all so friendly and willing to accept me into their family with open arms.

Jill Epstein,
Third Grade Associate

Well, I’ve been here for half a year in sense, but my first impressions were how physically beautiful it is. And it seems to be a very special place.

Anna LaSala-Goettler,
MS/US English Teacher

It is exciting and welcoming and tight knit, it’s close. We are in these close quarters together and I think that also contributes to how we feel and how I feel so warmly accepted and that I get to witness such community and community building that it’s playful and sometimes raucous but in the best way possible. I think it is full of incredibly bright students and I’m really excited to be here.

Peter Weiss,
History Teacher

It’s very energetic. I’m coming from a co-ed school. Coming to a single-sex school there is a real commitment to learning and academics here. And in the Middle School in particular there are a lot of efforts to build community, make a community stronger, which have really stood out to me.

If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Taylor Dean,
Science Teacher

I would have dinner with my great grandmother. I would like to eat with my great grandmother just so I could learn more about what my Noni was like as a child. I would also like to learn more about the journey that my great grandmother and my ancestors took when they came to Ellis Island from Italy. I just think there is a lot of family history that I would learn about if I was able to have dinner with her.

Mariana Goycoechea,
French and Spanish Teacher

My Mayan ancestors since I don’t know much about them. Colonialism intentionally erased them, but they existed. I want to hear their stories of survival from their mouths.

Marjorie Olney,
Science Teacher

Abby Wambach. I'd love to get her perspective on what it will take for other sports besides soccer to grow in the United States, how to navigate retirement from elite level sport, if and how her gender has influenced her athletic and professional careers, etc.

Jacob Soles,
Science Teacher

I think it would be really cool to sit down with Albert Einstein because I think a lot of his work and discoveries affect society in ways that we don’t even necessarily acknowledge as everyday citizens. He was so freakishly smart but also had a way of communicating in a very relatable way. I think he was a rare person. He was a genius that could communicate with normal people. And so I think he would be a great person to sit down and have a meal with.

What is a fun trivia fact about yourself?

Sam Permutt,
Dean of Student Life

 I think the one that people like the most is that I played professional basketball in Israel. That’s the easy one. I think the more self deprecating one is I'm the all-time leading scorer in Haverford Basketball history to not score 1,000 points. So I finished my career with 991 points. One that I like more is that I was in a freestyle rap club in college and I still freestyle a lot.

Brian Plane,
History Teacher

I lived in Africa when I was 12 years old. I had this experience of totally leaving my comfort zone. I grew up in suburban Denver. I lived in Boulder, a college town with front yards, bicycles, softball games and vacant lots. To leave all that and go to a country that had recently achieved independence. I remember on the way there we were on a bus and somebody said Jomo Kenyatta died, who is the great freedom fighter that Kenya’s named after. And we had a little discussion if it was prudent to travel on and thank goodness we did because it changed my life.

Sydney Rivera,
Kindergarten Associate

I am a huge animal lover. I once traveled five hours upstate to go to a special zoo where I was able to have a hands on experience with giraffes and other wild animals.

Lauren Stewart,
Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

I carve out 20 minutes every morning to meditate.

Austin Williams,
Second Grade Associate

A fun fact about myself is that a year or two ago I went snorkeling and I got to swim with whale sharks. I got to swim next to a pretty massive whale shark which was pretty awesome.