Pointing her finger towards the whiteboard, World History and AP U.S. History teacher Meghann Martin shows her class the wonders of the past by recounting the endless stories that the world has to offer.
“[When] I fell into teaching… I ended up as a long-term P.E. teacher during Covid and I really liked it,” Martin said. “I really like [getting to teach] something.”
Besides improving the lives of students every day, Martin has found many other ways to spend time outside of school, making the most out of her life by hiking, working out, traveling, and an old passion to run.
“I got into running while I was living in Boston and I really enjoyed it. I’ve run seven full marathons and I placed second in my last one,” Martin said.
Before becoming a teacher, Martin attended Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., and then attended Alliant University. After finishing college, Martin wanted to connect with where she grew up, so she decided to return to Ventura.
When teaching her first year, she found her teaching style to help motivate her students, which she describes as “collaborative and adaptive”.
“[I prefer to] alternate between lectures and having the students do group work… to figure things out,” Martin said. “I’m trying to shift from more of me explaining to them exploring…”
This is Martin’s first year at Buena so she still has a ways to go but she holds her head high, and works well with her fellow colleagues including the head department chair Kevin Downey, who has been overseeing her progress here at Buena.
“She’s got a great personality, great drive, great attitude…wants [students] to grow,” Downey said. “She finds solutions real quick and she knows [how] to share her knowledge.”
In her class, Martin tries to include everyone during lectures or even just simple group work. She wishes for everyone to have a voice in her class and wants to help them learn.
“[American history does] definitely seem less daunting. It’s very relaxed [and] it’s not very stressful there,” junior Lily Coffin said. “I like when she asks us about images because… we get to brainstorm… and [think about] what we can deduce from them.”
There have been many takeaways from Martin’s teaching career along with valuable lessons that she has learned from her classes and her students.
“There’s no size fits all [when teaching]. The way that you teach one student isn’t always going [to] work for another student,” Martin said.
Martin has continuously grown throughout her time here at Buena, learning new lessons from her old classes and implementing them here at Buena.
“Understand that learning never stops and find something that you’re interested in,” Martin said. “Everyone is capable of working towards a goal. Usually, they just need help figuring out what steps to take.”
