As an undergraduate, Natalie Beck ’24, MAT ’25, focused her research on developmental psychology, specifically the importance of play in children, which easily transferred to her master’s program studies. Now, she works with children daily as a student teacher in a second-grade classroom at Woodland Academy, an elementary school in Worcester. The most important thing she’s learned, she says, is that teachers need to play and speak the language of the people with whom they work.
While at Clark, Beck worked at an assisted living facility where she organized activities for the residents and was a member of the Clark Keys. She also appeared in several theatre shows, including the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Starting in the summer, Beck will be a theatre program coordinator at the Newton JCC in Newton, Massachusetts, teaching students in grades 2-8 while writing and directing shows. She’s excited to work in youth theatre education and provide an inclusive space for students. She believes that theatre can be therapeutic and wants to help children participate in emotional exploration through theatrical performance.
“Existing in a space where you have people who academically agree or disagree with you, and learning how to have discourse with them respectfully, is so important,” she says.
