Michael McCarron joins the Winnacunnet language department

The new school year has brought more than virtual learning, it has also ushered in new members of the Winnacunnet faculty. One of these new members is Spanish teacher Michael McCarron.

McCarron said he is filling in for Spanish teacher Holly Murphy for the 2020-2021 school year as a temporary hire.

McCarron attended the University of New Hampshire (UNH) for college and completed grad school at both UNH and Ohio State University (OSU).

“For a long time I did not know what I wanted to do,” McCarron said. “A professor in college encouraged me to get my master's degree, which offered a tuition waiver if I taught a course. I have been a Spanish teacher ever since.”

McCarron said he has been teaching for 16 years. He has taught online for eight years.

“I do think [virtual learning] has some limitations,” McCarron said. “I think with all of the new apps and different approaches we will discover some great things about it that we never knew before.”

During his 16 years of teaching, McCarron said he taught at several different schools including UNH, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Minnesota and OSU.

“This is my first time as a high school teacher,” McCarron said. “though I did teach high school-aged kids at a summer program in Spain. I'm hoping the students and I can make this year fun despite all of the challenges.”

McCarron’s teaching experience spans over multiple types of teaching. He said he has experience teaching improvisation to high school-aged people. He said he was a teaching assistant (TA) in 2016 for an aerodynamics class.

Outside of teaching, McCarron has a myriad of hobbies and interests. McCarron said he loves to swim and listen to music. Along with teaching improvisational comedy, he performs it himself.

McCarron said he enjoys learning languages. He said he took an Italian course and he would love to continue learning the language.

“I sold my bike just before the pandemic, so I started hiking as much as possible,” McCarron said.

During the month of May, McCarron said he hiked 233 miles.