Deep in the depths of the Shattuck Basement, sits classroom 007. An oasis of learning and inspiration, this room belongs to History Faculty Jennifer Carlson-Pietraszek, or “C-Traz’s”. Carlson-Pietraszek has been a beloved history teacher, advisor, outdoor adventure leader, and so much more throughout her time at Nobles. As the school year comes to a close, Carlson-Pietraszek will be retiring, saying her final goodbyes to Nobles.
Yet, it seems like only recently when Carlson-Pietraszek first received a call from former Head of School Dick Baker. He asked her to come work as a teacher at the Nobles Middle School, with the knowledge that she would soon step up as head of the middle school.
From a young age, Carlson-Pietraszek knew she wanted to be a teacher: “Teaching has always come really naturally to me. It’s something I would find myself doing as a kid in school or athletic settings. I remember coaches getting on me. For instance, doing basketball drills where I’m supposed to be working on my dribbling and my partner is supposed to be working on their defense, but I would be more focused on helping them with their defense,” Carlson-Pietraszek said. It is this innate proclivity for helping others that has made her such an impactful mentor to so many students throughout her time at Nobles.
In her first few days at Nobles, Carlson-Pietraszek fell in love with this community. “I remember in those early years being struck by something that Mr. Baker would say at admission functions to prospective families. He would say, ‘[The] one thing that I can promise you is that we will be a better school when your child graduates than we are right now.’ That, at first, struck me as bizarro. I thought that we were supposed to be putting our best foot forward. To me, it sounded like we were saying, ‘There’s something not so great about us, but don’t worry, we will improve.’ Yet what I’ve come to learn is that what Mr. Baker was saying is that if we’re being true to our institutional values, Nobles will always be better four years from now than it is now, because we are always looking for ways to do better. This is something that I believe is core to what Nobles is as an institution,” Carlson-Pietraszek said.
“Teaching has always come really naturally to me. It’s something I would find myself doing as a
kid in school or athletic settings.”
Just one year after arriving at Nobles, she was asked to step up as head of the middle School. “I was only 28. Relatively, I was quite young to be taking on a leadership role in a school, so I went into it with perhaps an equal measure of excitement and fear. Turns out, I actually like that balance. It took me a good two or three years to realize that my role as Head of the Middle School was not limited to simply not messing up what [previous middle school head] Mr. Carey and the team had built, but rather that I was in the role to lead, to have a vision, to experiment, to try out some new ideas, to support my colleagues, to lead us into a vision that we shared. That was sort of an awakening for me in terms of leadership,” Carlson-Pietraszek said.
As a history teacher, Carlson-Pietraszek brings an unmatched passion and wealth of knowledge to her students, but it was not always this way. “Growing up, I did not like history; I thought it was boring and irrelevant, but I learned that history is simply stories of people like you and me. History is like the study of the longest soap opera running. It is always relevant because it’s about human beings living under difficult pressures and circumstances,” Carlson-Pietraszek said.
Even still, Carlson-Pietraszek’s passion for history is not what defines her as a teacher. “I think what makes me a good teacher is not how much history I know, but to what extent I can build personal connections and encourage my students to follow their curiosities. There is something so precious about being trusted as a safe and supportive adult by adolescents who are going through some really challenging stuff. It’s an honor. It’s a gift to me and I will miss having my day-to-day function through those relationships,” Carlson-Pietraszek said.
Carlson-Pietraszek has also been devoted to building relationships and inspiring curiosity outside of the classroom. She is credited with pioneering the Nobles Middle School Outdoor Adventure Program. “I look back at Outdoor Adventure as some of my happiest times in the fall, but I think Afternoon Program in general is incredibly important. It helps us to know each other in a multifaceted way, and it’s not just coaching. By going to see a student play their sport, or attending the orchestra concert, I get to see a student who might be struggling in my class excel in different settings. This gives me more contact points, and I can actually use that to help them understand the historical concept they might be finding difficult.”
“History is like the study of the longest soap opera running. It is always relevant because it’s
about human beings living under difficult
pressures and circumstances.”
Carlson-Pietraszek’s advisee, Carina Grossman (Class II), provided some personal anecdotes about those special relationships: “We have a very special, humor-based relationship. It’s hard to explain, but despite the fact that we love to joke around, every joke is made with the shared knowledge that we have such a good relationship. I am honestly just so grateful for her. She’s definitely one of my favorite adults at Nobles, and I always think of her first when I need to talk about something.” Grossman added that Carlson-Pietraszek has one unique quality that really encapsulates the reason she seeks Carlson-Pietraszek to talk. “C-Traz is such a problem solver. She’s always looking to help me. She really gives great advice, when a lot of people just listen to me vent.”
Ultimately, Carlson-Pietraszek has had a great impact on the Nobles community as a teacher, coach, administrator, and advisor who inspires young minds and shapes young hearts. The entire Nobles community is sad to see her go, but beyond grateful for her influence and truly wish her the best with all her future adventures. Although this will be a sad farewell, Carlson–Pietraszek has found a way to see the silver lining in her retirement. “Late August has always been like an inflated Sunday night, so the idea of experiencing the last week of August and the month of September just makes me giddy!”
