Welcome to Grade 4 with Teacher Joanne
Joanne Thurston-Griswold
Teacher Joanne Thurston-Griswold draws on her background as a school psychologist to help her students grow socially and emotionally. She believes such social-emotional development goes hand-in-hand with successful academic development. Ultimately, her goal is to provide her students with a safe and supportive environment in which they can take risks, try new things, and learn from each other.
Joanne especially enjoys getting her kids involved in what she calls “big, messy projects.” Such projects give students the opportunity to connect directly with various subjects. For example, while studying Ancient Egypt, students desiccate apples using Egyptian mummification methods. The students place their mummified apples into papier-mâché sarcophagi that they paint to resemble those of the pharaohs.
Joanne received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in school psychology. She worked as school psychologist in Norfolk, Virginia, and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. After teaching elementary school to low-income indigenous children in Guatemala, Joanne returned to college to obtain her teaching certification. Her extensive service work in Latin American regularly plays into her teaching at Friends School.
Teacher Joanne Thurston-Griswold draws on her background as a school psychologist to help her students grow socially and emotionally. She believes such social-emotional development goes hand-in-hand with successful academic development. Ultimately, her goal is to provide her students with a safe and supportive environment in which they can take risks, try new things, and learn from each other.
Joanne especially enjoys getting her kids involved in what she calls “big, messy projects.” Such projects give students the opportunity to connect directly with various subjects. For example, while studying Ancient Egypt, students desiccate apples using Egyptian mummification methods. The students place their mummified apples into papier-mâché sarcophagi that they paint to resemble those of the pharaohs.
Joanne received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in school psychology. She worked as school psychologist in Norfolk, Virginia, and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. After teaching elementary school to low-income indigenous children in Guatemala, Joanne returned to college to obtain her teaching certification. Her extensive service work in Latin American regularly plays into her teaching at Friends School.
