Ms. Hassina Shah has been a professional teacher for 4 years now. In her last semester at Hunter College, she was assigned to student teach at Academy and has been here ever since.

When asked why she decided to take up AP Macroeconomics, she shared that she minored in Economics and that it’s always been one of her passions, so when the position opened up after Mr. Loesch retired, it was an easy yes.

Shah also advises the Model UN club which she was a member of during her own high school experience, which she credits as part of the reason she decided to become a teacher in the first place.

“I’ve always wanted to do something fulfilling, do something where I am able to make a direct change in the lives of people.” Just last year, Shah took her students on a trip to a food pantry where they volunteered packing and preparing food for those in need.

Besides ensuring her students are active outside the classroom, she makes sure they’re involved within the classroom as well. “I am constantly motivating students to admire everyone’s cultures and take an interest in different parts of the world. In AP Macroeconomics, we learn about all the world’s economies and different countries’ economies.”

As a teacher, investing in learning about her students’ backgrounds allows her to have a better connection with her students, but as an avid traveler it gives her some great recommendations on where to go next. In 2024 she’ll be going to Spain on Academy’s international trip!

You can definitely tell she loves her job as she runs through her normal daily schedule. “I would say my day starts off pretty well because my second period is amazing, shout out to them and so is my third period.” She smiles as she talks about how she prepares her worksheets for the next day before retiring to bed and awakes to the cycle starting again.