Trevor Welcomes Hannah Bryan

Multiple outstanding teachers have joined the Trevor community this 2024-2025 school year. One of these new faculty members is Upper School English teacher Hannah Bryan. Ms. Bryan has a long history of teaching that has led her to Trevor, and the Upper School is overjoyed to welcome her.

When Ms. Bryan was young, she wanted to own a horse farm and live in Montana, raising and training horses. Later on, Ms. Bryan went to the University of South Carolina and was a member of the school’s honors college. During her time in South Carolina, she realized that she wanted to be a teacher. She started out by working at a university as a student support specialist. Then, she worked as an English language teacher in Ethiopia, and again later in the Bronx.

Ms. Bryan’s decision to teach at Trevor can be credited in part to our middle school Health teacher, Ms. Lind. In addition to teaching English, Ms. Bryan is currently assisting students with their Environmental Studies concentrations and seminar projects. Ms. Bryan’s favorite part of teaching is seeing her students get truly excited about a book or topic they are learning about. She said that literature is particularly special to her because “[classes] can talk about all kinds of things, from politics to what it means to be human.”

While she was teaching in Ethiopia, her classes included students from 40 different countries who all spoke different languages. At Trevor, classes are all led in English: this presented a big change for Ms. Bryan. She said that she does “sometimes miss teaching in a classroom where everyone speaks a different language.”

Ms. Bryan’s favorite aspect of Trevor is how student workspaces are constructed. She really appreciates the round tables, because “they’re really useful for class discussions.” She also likes her desk because she gets a remarkable view of the East River from the 7th floor. Another thing Ms. Bryan likes about the school is the 10-day cycle. She appreciates how well it’s organized. Another thing she enjoys about Trevor is the way the common area is structured. She likes how all the teachers' desks are out in the open so anyone can come and ask a question about anything. It's a lot easier to ask a question when all your teachers are close to you rather than waiting till the next class or emailing about it. In the upper east side neighborhood she likes how nice and biking lanes are. A fun fact about Ms. Bryan is that she loves biking. She said she can bike anytime, even during the extreme heat or extreme cold.

Ms. Bryan’s favorite book that she has taught is The Crucible by Arthur Miller. She really liked teaching this book because you can talk about politics, truth, reputation, madness, and important things to say about our culture now. Ms.Bryans favorite way of teaching is by class discussions. She cares about what students have to say and their opinions. Ms. Bryan also got a chance to talk with some other teachers working at Trevor. The one thing that Ms. Bryan wants to achieve by the end of this year is for each of her students to leave class having found one thing they are excited about.