Hello! My name is Chelsea McQuade, and I am the Science and Math Middle School Teacher at St. Clare School. I am very excited for this upcoming school year and hope that everyone else is excited and had an amazing summer. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself a bit. I was born and raised in Ohio, with a fabulous family which has always been a huge part of my life. I enjoyed a catholic upbringing and spent my schooling years in both public and private Catholic settings. Through these private school years, I enjoyed the unique community that is created in Catholic Schools. Those happy memories encouraged me to look to teach at a similar Catholic School here in Portland, and I am thrilled to be here at St. Clare’s.

In high school I first discovered my passion and love for Nature, in an Environmental Science Class taught by a teacher who inspired me greatly. Throughout the school year we studied our local natural habitat, and during the summers we traveled to more distant locations. I studied Marine Biology in the Bahamas and Field Ecology in Alaska. Through these experiences, I realized the power a teacher has to inspire their students. This ultimately led me to become a teacher myself.

As a senior in high school, I taught religious education at my church. This strengthened my faith, and I gained some hands on experience in teaching. This encouraged me to dedicate my studies in college to teaching.

In college, my home was in Green Mountains at the University of Vermont. I studied Environmental Sciences and Middle Level Education which are my passions. I strongly believe in living a sustainable life, using resources wisely and wasting little. Respecting the Earth and all of its inhabitants is very important to me, and I hope to inspire these same behaviors in students. I was able to experience another way of life, as I studied Marine Biology in Australia, and this gave me a broader World view of sustainable living.

Through the years at college I explored the East Coast, but soon set my next destination to the opposite side of the country. I had heard Portland was an environmentally conscientious city, and had an ideal location in between the ocean and the mountains. This was perfect for me because I love to travel, especially in natural wonderlands, where I can discover the species that I live on the land. Portland is a beautiful city, and I am grateful to be living and teaching in such a place.

I believe students learn best when they see that what they learn in school is useful for them in their every day life. I connect school curriculum to the World around us as often as possible, especially when it comes to our own planet. I hope to motivate students to learn as they see how interconnected the world truly is. My teaching philosophy relies on this theme of interconnectedness in many ways.

I look forward to working with the students, teachers, and parents at St. Clare’s. Please feel free to email me with questions, and comments at Chelsea.McQuade@gmail.com