Kathryn Koshkin recently rejoined the Greenhill community as a Middle School history teacher after a few years at an off-campus job.
In her first tenure at Greenhill, Koshkin taught third-grade humanities from 2005 to 2007
At that point, Koshkin took a break from teaching and became a lawyer and legal recruiter. Her main task was to help lawyers find jobs and to practice law herself as a working attorney. She says she enjoyed practicing various areas of law, which gave her a different perspective.
Working in law was a vastly different experience than teaching middle school history. Her legal work demanded command of details and meticulous, focused work, she said.
“My job demanded that I pay close attention to detail and that I was always focused and ready, said Koshkin.
Helping people was a big part of being a legal recruiter, Koshkin said. She says she loved assisting others and helping them find their passion which she dealt with in both jobs
Although she got to bring some of her past skills of being a teacher into that work, Koshkin said she felt empty no longer being in a classroom. She missed her students and her colleagues. She longed for the opportunity to nurture the next generation of students.
“Teaching is my passion,” Koshkin said. “It’s what I love.”
Koshkin didn’t always see herself as a teacher.
She originally wanted to be a veterinarian because of her love for animals. But her fifth grade history teacher at Greenhill, Judy Break, encouraged her to think about teaching.
Koshkin found that she always loved being around kids. As a teenager, she worked as a summer camp counselor.
In college, another piece fell into place for Koshkin. While helping her peers in an oceanography class, she realized that she had a gift for explaining things to other people.
“I realized I could enhance my understanding of the course by teaching my friends and peers about the subject matter. That was my lightbulb moment and how teaching helps me learn.”
After college, Koshkin taught in Connecticut at Greenwich Academy for years. She then went and taught at Trinity Academy in New York for one year. She came back to Greenhill to work as a third-grade teacher. She wanted to be closer to family and work as a main teacher instead of the assistant teacher jobs she previously worked.
Koshkin started out at Greenhill in 1985 and loved the community.
“I bleed green and gold,” Koshkin jokes. Since returning to Greenhill in August, she has been familiarizing herself with the new schedule. She said she is enjoying the warm welcome back from her students. “The pace of Greenhill keeps going, and it doesn’t slow down for anyone,” she said. Her students say they enjoy her classroom presence.
Seventh grader Vikram Thoduguli says that Koshkin makes sure her students are organized and on track. He describes her as organized and someone who knows what she’s doing and makes it a point to help everyone understand.
She presents her information to her classes in different ways. For example, she uses Canva slides and documents which she explains in further detail.
“She ties her lessons to the concepts we learned in sixth grade and advances our knowledge,” said Thoduguli.
Seventh grader Taylor Young said she agreed with that description. She added that Koshkin is a fun teacher who helps her students by giving them different points of view.
“She’s really nice and warm, doesn’t yell and gives really good feedback that helps us improve and grow,” said Young. “She makes me feel very prepared and I enjoy history.”
