Jesse McGrath is an English teacher at Washington High School. McGrath attended San Francisco State University where he got his BA in English with an emphasis in education, as well as his teaching credentials. He also finished a program at Southern New Hampshire University to get his master’s in English with an emphasis in creative writing. McGrath is taking a small break from furthering his education, but plans to continue by pursuing his PhD in the near future. This is McGrath’s 8th year teaching; he began teaching at Washington High School in 2012 before moving to New York City. He taught in the Bronx for a year before spending three years teaching in Brooklyn, finally returning to WHS this year. McGrath teaches English because he loves reading and writing. He has classes with mostly 11th graders and enjoys educating them because he personally enjoys American Literature. In his spare time, in addition to reading and writing, McGrath plays video games and spends time with his dog. McGrath is interested mainly in nonfiction and is currently reading a book called Evicted by Matthew Desmond. He is also a fan of comic books and is rereading Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O’Malley at the moment. In his high school days, McGrath was not engaged or interested in anything being taught to him. He became a teacher to help kids who were like him. To McGrath, teaching was always his greatest passion and he is looking for creative strategies to channel that passion. As of now, he is finishing a large writing project which he has been working on for a year. He is motivated by his family, loved ones, and by making others happy. McGrath’s students impact his life in a big way. “They inform everything I do as a teacher, and I regularly learn from them, even after nearly ten years as a teacher,” he says. McGrath is very excited to be back at Washington.
It is currently Amal Afsal’s senior year at Washington High School. He was born and raised in Fremont, California. For his third and final year at the Hatchet, he will be the news editor. Amal enjoys writing about a variety of topics at the Hatchet, but prefers News and Opinions articles. In his free time, Amal enjoys playing video games while also occasionally watching television and browsing Reddit. He enjoys playing Badminton at WHS’s open gym and is employed by the restaurant, iniBurger. Amal wants to go to community college and transfer to a university within a couple of years.
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