The atmosphere of room 106 is surprisingly calm and mellow. Sunlight filters into the cozily dim room as Mr. Richard MacDonald sits across the table. The older man has a welcoming energy that is hard not to feel safe around. He’s like a neighbor even if you’ve never lived in a neighborhood.
MacDonald started working at North Kingstown High this year as a teaching assistant for special needs students. Despite only working here for two months now, he occasionally interrupts the conversation to help guide a student or give advice to another adult in the room. He has nestled himself perfectly into the learning environment of the classroom already.
This is his first official year working as a teaching assistant. Before coming to NK, he attended community college for a year and transferred to Bryant University. He received an associate degree in Criminal Justice and joined the East Providence Fire Department in 1990. Deciding that that was the perfect path for him at the time, he returned to college yet again to earn an associates degree in Fire Science.
In 2019, while still at the East Providence Fire Department, he looked for a change. “My wife suggested that I become a teaching assistant,” he said.
After taking the one-month program, he moved on to work at all the schools in the North Kingstown District. From the five elementary schools to the two middle schools, all part-time, he favors the time spent at Davisville Middle and Davisville Academy the most.
Despite enjoying working with all grade levels, he enjoys working with high school students the most. “It’s nice knowing there’s no fooling around at this level,” he said. He’s found that there’s nothing he dislikes. The thing he liked most of all was working with a student named Sam over the summer, one-on-one.
In the same vein, he likes to teach kids boxing in Cranston. His aptitude for physical activity extends past the lessons he teaches. He enjoys walking and biking, saying that he avoids the gym as much as possible to stay outside.
Despite liking his outside time, he excels in the classroom environment. He also says that the safety training program he took in late August, something all teaching assistants have to go through, taught him a lot. He learned to be patient with all students and children, no matter the age because the cover doesn’t always match the story. Kids who seem well off might not always be and home lives are never clear based on the surface image you can gather.
He is optimistic about his new career as a teaching assistant and it is clear. The excitement he speaks with is infectious. Hopefully, his students feel the same way when around him.
