Brookside teacher reflects on first year, credits mentor program and school culture for student gains

Maggie Touralone, a first‑year classroom teacher at Brookside Elementary, told Worthington Schools podcast hosts Angie Adrian and Jeff Maddox that she saw measurable academic and social growth among her students and credited mentoring, colleagues and school culture for helping her through the year. "I have genuinely never met people that love kids more," Touralone said, describing colleagues who attend students' games, eat lunch with children and help run school events.

Touralone said one of her proudest classroom accomplishments was a cross‑curricular narrative writing project in which students produced "choose your own adventure" books and learned a publishing process. She described watching students who began the year reluctant to write become students who write at home and ask how they can improve. "He went from, 'I don't want to do this,' to, 'how can I grow in…