This fall, the Archmere community welcomed back alumna Ms. Taylor Tucker to the Literature Department as a 9th and 10th grade teacher.
Ms. Tucker, who graduated from Archmere in 2016, attended Swarthmore’s Honors College where she earned her undergraduate degrees in Education and Black Studies. Following that, she went on to graduate school to earn her teaching certification at The University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Tucker said that one of her most valued experiences in her education was working on her senior thesis at Swarthmore, in which she focused on how having an incarcerated family member impacts students, specifically Black women in high achieving academic spaces. “It was really great to see how all of the women that I interviewed for the thesis learned so much from that experience, and how it influenced the decisions they made as an adult,” Ms.Tucker reflected. “Just to see the level of empathy and the level of love they had for other people was really cool,” she added. “It was really great and inspiring to be able to chat with them.”
Ms. Tucker’s relationships with her thesis advisors greatly impacted her college experience, and she hopes to replicate them with her students at Archmere. She said, “It was really great to have that kind of friendship mentorship, and I want to build that foundation with [Archmere students] while [they are] here. When [they are] older [they] can come back, and that mentorship will continue.”
Outside school, Ms Tucker enjoys reading, listening to music or podcasts, cleaning, and finding a good place to eat. Ms Tucker shares that “one of the greatest benefits of living in Philadelphia is that there are so many places to go eat and try new foods.”
Ms. Tucker said that while returning to Archmere as a teacher felt surreal, she is very grateful for the opportunity to come back. “There’s just warmth here that you don’t get at many places,” she said. “It also feels wonderful to have Mme Thiel as a principal because I know she puts so much trust in the teacher to ‘do our thing’ and teach all of you well, and that’s the kind of leadership you want wherever you decide to go work.”
When asked about what advice she had for Archmere students, Ms. Tucker returned to her focus on strong relationships and trust. She explained, “Wherever you go in life make sure that the leadership has trust in you and that they are invested in you succeeding.” It appears that Ms. Tucker has found that at Archmere, before as a student, but now again as a teacher.
