Evangeline Berube has been at Mastery Simon Gratz High School since the turnaround in 2011. She is a Case Manager and Special Education Literature Teacher.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Evangeline moved to Philadelphia and began working at Mastery Simon Gratz through Teach for America. She attended the University of Pittsburgh studying Political Science, French, and African Studies. She had been involved with a lot of teaching related activities during undergraduate, but at the time was not interested in teaching as a career because the monotony that she observed in her own classrooms did not intrigue her.

Through a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, Evangeline had the opportunity to work with the refugee community through Jewish Family and Children Services focusing on literacy and acculturation. The children and families that she worked with had come to Pittsburgh from various countries, including Nepal, Central African Republic and Rwanda – speaking up to 6 different languages between them. Evangeline provided language instruction and support, ran programs for children, and helped families with job development programs. This experience sparked her interest in English as a Second Language (ESL), and eventually she decided on Special Education as her calling.

During her free time, Evangeline enjoys knitting, baking, and running. She completed a half marathon a couple years ago, and is building up for another in the future. In the last year, she purchased a home within the Tioga community. “It’s great to feel even more invested than I already was,” she says. “As a member of the community I feel that. I now have an even more insightful look into different issues that families have experience with in addition to things within the school community.”

Evangeline’s favorite part about Mastery Simon Gratz are the people – students, coworkers and families. “It’s great working at a school where I’ve taught cousins, and siblings. I have coworkers who, just like me, have been here since year 1. I feel a strong connection to the community here,” she says.