Mark Greenstreet explains his teaching style during an interview.[/caption]Mark Greenstreet feels honored to have become the 2013 Teacher of the Year. “I'm surrounded amongst so many talented teachers. I'm greatly honored.” Greenstreet has ten years of experience in the classroom. He has taught at OHS for four years. He previously taught at Hillside High School in Durham, where he was Teacher of the Year during his fifth year of teaching.
Greenstreet said that the most important things in his life are literature, young people, and having a passion for social change. For him, teaching is like “saving lives.” He loves to help young people find their place in the world.
When Greenstreet teaches he does more than a typical teacher. He helps students learn through performances. Greenstreet spoke about reaching out to students by having conversations with them and inspiring them through music and raps that relate to real life. His first goal is to make sure his students are comfortable with things that are going on. “There’s no right or wrong [in my class],” Greenstreet says. “I'm consistently creating a character in my mind.” He believes that students learn more when they are comfortable.
His biggest inspiration was his tenth grade teacher Rob Slater. Slater helped him realize that in class a teacher doesn’t teach you unnecessary things. Everything you are taught can be used in life. Greenstreet explained how he was able to work with the man that inspired his mentor in high school. Slater was in a class taught by a man named Bill Oliver. When he grew up and took a job at OHS, he got to meet Oliver and work with him.
This year, Greenstreet is teaching a new public speaking class. Greenstreet thinks it’s the most important skill a person can learn. “I want to help people take off their masks and share their voice within them... It’s basically literature in action.”
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Greenstreet teaches 9th grade English, as well as Public Speaking.[/caption]
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