Leah Hirsch

I have been teaching at Quest to Learn in New York City since 2009, and in the New York City Public School system since 2005. At Quest, I teach a hands-on inquiry based course called The Way Things Work (TWTW) which gives my sixth grade students a chance to be scientists, designers, makers, and players. Quest to Learn is a school that works in partnership with game designers from the Institute of Play to design game-based learning. In my time at Quest to Learn, I have been working hard on the craft of designing game-like learning experiences. Topics I teach include: Simple machines, the Human Body, Cells Functions, and Ecology.

When I am not teaching science, I also run an after school Cooking Club, inspired by the 2012 fellowship I received from Fund for Teachers during which I traveled to Thailand and learned to cook Thai food, a healthy. Outside of school, I am busy extending professional connections at places like Math for America, where in 2013, I was accepted into their first cohort of Master Science Teachers. In 2013, I also received a fellowship with the New York Hall of Science where I had the opportunity to partner with them in the establishment of their state of the art Design Lab.