Chloe Garth-Fielder, a new English teacher at the Upper School, brings with her nearly 30 years of experience in the classroom. She recently relocated to Rome from Jackson, Miss.
“Chloe will be an incredible addition to the Upper School English department,” said Matt Peer, Upper School director. “Her experience working at both the high school and post secondary school levels will serve her will in the AP English Language classroom. It was readily apparent during the interview process that Chloe will make excellent connections with our students and her new colleagues.”
Garth-Fielder holds a B.A. in English from Spelman College and an M.A. in Curriculum Instruction/Administration and Supervision from Trevecca Nazarene College. She has 28 years of teaching experience, most recently serving as site manager for the 21st Century Bridge Resource Learning Center and academy coach at Lanier High School in Jackson, Miss. She also served as an English instructor at Upward Bound-Tougaloo College and academic curriculum coordinator at Upward Bound-Jackson State.
Garth-Fielder has received numerous commendations and awards for her work as an educator, but there was a time in her life where she was determined not to follow in the footsteps of her parents and choose education for her career path.
“I can remember telling my parents, ‘I will never teach.’ I often loathed the idea of becoming an educator because I observed my parents' relentless efforts to save all children,” Garth-Fielder recalled. “For that reason, I was determined that education would not be a career choice. As fate would have it, those words would come back to haunt me. After college I was enjoying the glamour, fun and spontaneity of a career in retail fashion when I survived a horrible car accident. I required physical therapy and, during this time, I began to ponder a career change and then decided that maybe teaching might not be so bad after all (since I was learning to walk and talk again).”
Garth-Fielder then enrolled in a rigorous one-year master’s program.
“While in the program, I began to realize how fulfilling it was to complete research, engage in teacher/student activities, plan lessons, interact with students while in the field, and witness the excitement when children excelled in addition to feeling the frustration and rejection when students struggled,” she said. “I began teaching in 1988 and immediately knew that this was my calling.”
Education has changed drastically during Garth-Fielder’s career.
“In the 21st Century, education is no longer dependent upon the perennial philosophy of mere ‘book sense’ learning of grammar and historical dates,” she explained. “We are now living in the information age in which any student has a gateway into an amalgam of academic disciplines. Today, education is not only dependent upon building a foundation of knowledge; it is also contingent upon the cultural, inter/intra personal, emotional, social, environmental, and moral growth of young adults through their experiential learning endeavors. For that reason, I am committed to fostering a cultural learning environment that proceeds beyond the classroom.”
Garth-Fielder enjoys spending time with her husband, Napoleon.
“Time is of the essence! In view of this, I embrace my free time by creating endless moments, in timeless places,” she said. “I do this by sharing my talents and gifts to make a difference in the community; preparing succulent meals of seafood gumbo, crab boil and seafood dressing or my famous ‘steak Napoleon’ (savoringly named after my beloved husband), shrimp scampi and sauce, and strawberry kiwi crisp cheesecake; and by summoning my quiet side and welcoming a moment of solitude, relaxation, and meditation where I engage in a personal conversation with God.”
The new English teacher is a self-declared lifelong learner and feels that this strong desire for study enhances the classroom experience in a very meaningful way.
“I study to develop and further enhance my teaching strategies that will assist in my implementation of challenging yet real-world units of study,” said Garth-Fielder. “These teaching strategies reflect teacher directed instruction, terminology drills using vocabulary charts, creating mental images, brainstorming, assimilation, simulation, application, Socratic questioning and reason, hands-on demonstrations, discussions, role-playing, debating, problem solving, differentiated instruction, and cooperative learning. Employing these strategies sets the stage for me to transform ordinary learning into extraordinary experiences.”
