Teaching is actually Shira Fishman-Printup’s second career. Armed with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, she worked as an engineer for three years after college, but found it couldn’t compare to the daily challenges of educating young minds. She now holds a M.Ed. and, as math department chair, her pedagogical prowess extends beyond her core subjects. Fishman-Printup connects her curriculum to real life by teaching math-based engineering projects and builds a community in her classroom where students help each other.
Fishman-Printup is “exceptional with data,” using individual findings to reach each student. She wants all of her students to multiply their potential. And they, in turn, work doubly hard to please her. Her principal also routinely pairs her with struggling students who, as a result, consistently gain one grade level or more.
Thanks in large part to Fishman-Printup’s contributions, McKinley is a top-ranked school and bests the rest of the district by leaps and bounds. In 2010, grade 10 math scores showed 76 percent proficiency (43 percent state average); and secondary school math scores indicated proficiency of 76 percent (49 percent state). Eighty-seven percent of testers were proficient/advanced in math (50 percent district average), an increase of 38 percent from 2006–2011.
The go-to person for educators in all disciplines, Fishman-Printup trains new teachers and led a schoolwide project to motivate students to attend college. She is a member of the Curriculum Leadership Team and the Restructuring Committee as well as a consultant to the administrative team. In the latter capacity, Fishman-Printup guides other teachers on best instructional practices, classroom management and observations.
