“Oh bless we have a sub!” is a common exclamation of relief when students find out that they have a substitute teacher for a class that day. Just like that, the mindset switches from one hyper stimulated ready to force more information into their brain to one that is ready to do the opposite. To a student, the substitute teacher is simply a filler, a palate cleanser if you will, to a day filled with stress. But behind these mysterious adults and their attendance sheets are people with disparate character arcs leading them to that moment.
Maryanna Donahue is not only substitute teacher for Walter Johnson, she is a former teacher of the school. She moved to Maryland from Pennsylvania which is where she studied French and history in college. Finishing her studies she taught the two subjects in Scranton but she felt called to law.
“I always loved teaching, that was what I wanted to do, but as I got older I knew I wanted to study law, I wanted to be a lawyer,” Donahue said. But there were no law schools where I was living in Pennsylvania so I applied to the schools around here since my sister lived in Bethesda, and I got into Georgetown law school so that’s where I went.”
Donahue mostly substitutes for social studies classes since that was the field she taught in before she retired. But beyond that, Donahue simply felt drawn to the people here at WJ.
“Those teachers are my good friends. I’m really close to the people in social studies. I think it’s a wonderful department and so I substitute for them mostly, but for other departments too,” Donahue said.
On the floor right above the social studies hallway is the science hallway and in it lies Melissa Rooney’s classroom as well as her long term substitute teacher, Sonya Lewis. Lewis has taught at Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia as well as worked for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. However, she has now decided to switch careers and become a high school science teacher.
“It’s that piece of what I used to do that I still appreciate. The sharing of scientific information, I get off on that,” Lewis said.
Lewis’ background is in neuropsychology and had worked in industry for 25 years. Thus, substitute teaching is serving as a means of transition to her new career.
“I am currently studying for the biology praxis. My goal is to be a biology teacher, so I’m not just teaching on the sub level infinitum. It’s purposeful for me. It’s something that I will do on the way to becoming a full time teacher,” Lewis said.
However, Lewis isn’t the only substitute teacher in the building transitioning between careers. Substitute teacher Kenneth Ong began substitute teaching as well as being a college counsellor about six years ago after working in a series of professions.
“My previous careers were all in investment banking, the entertainment industry, working for Disney, working for tech start-ups, working for the largest architecture firm in the world doing strategy and operations,” Ong said. “None of those industries were really here. [Still], the storytelling that’s involved with that is very much like developing things like films, scripts and TV shows so I started immersing myself in that way. I also have experience a long time ago as an admissions reader. So that’s where I also bring part of that knowledge.”
Ong’s combination of his trademark slides and the sprinkling in of college advice has made him widely recognizable among students. These interactions with students is a large factor as to why Ong decided to start substitute teaching in the first place.
“MCPS gives you rules and regulations but they don’t tell you how to interact with students. I’ve been a manager before so I’ve been around adults, I’ve been in collaborative environments but teaching was something I really grew curious about. But I think my style really works well with my students,” Ong said.
