Faculty and Staff

David Allen

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BFA, Creative Writing, Brooklyn College; MFA, Creative Writing, The University of Michigan, Advanced Certification in School Leadership, Brooklyn College. Taught English at Brooklyn Technical High School, The Dalton School, Bushwick Outreach Center, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall, Phillips Academy, The University of Michigan and Brooklyn College. Served as Assistant Principal, English at Art and Design High School. At The University of Michigan, he received the Hopwood Award in Major Fiction. His poems and stories have been broadcast and published in several New York City outlets.

Samir Vural

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BFA, Film & Electronic Media Bard College; MAT English Bard College; Masters in Educational Leadership: Collaborative Leadership Advancing School Success (CLASS) Hunter College.

Served as English and History teacher, Assistant Principal and Principal at the Urban Assembly School of Music and Art/Creators Academy for 15 years, where he helped build and teach the Bard Sequence. In addition to his teaching and leadership experience, Samir was an award winning filmmaker in his youth and Samir brings his deep background in media arts and his interest in 21st century learning to his instructional coaching as well as his own teaching. He is a girl dad of two, and is expecting a baby boy in January 2026.

Shawn Steele

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BA, Political Studies and Italian Studies, Bard College; MA, History, CUNY Queens College; Advanced Certificate in Adolescent Social Studies Education (Grades 7-12), CUNY Queens College; MSEd, Educational Leadership, CUNY Queens College.

Began his professional career as Attendance Coordinator and Admissions Coordinator at Bard High School Early College Queens from 2011-2015. Taught History of the Americas, World History, and Twentieth Century Intellectual History at Bard High School Early College Queens from 2015-2018. Also served and as Associate Dean of Students, AP Coordinator, Social Studies Department Chair, and teacher at Broome Street Academy Charter High School, in association with The Door, a Center of Alternatives, in Manhattan, from 2018-2024. Formerly held a trustee position on the Locust Valley Central School District Board of Education from 2017-2023. At CUNY Queens College, he received the Emerging Scholar Award in the field of Educational Leadership. He is, and always will be, a New York Mets fan.

Raquel Aragón

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Nicole Basile

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BA, MA, Comparative Literature, New York University; PhD, Latin America and Iberian Cultures, Columbia University. Taught Spanish language and content courses at Columbia University and Stony Brook University. Research interests include the History of Science, Food Studies, Gender Studies, and Experiential Education.

Mark Cheng

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B.S., SUNY Stony Brook; Ph.D., University of Washington; M.S.T., Fordham University.

A Brooklyn native who was raised by the NYC public schools that he is now teaching in.
At the University of Washington, he conducted material research using multidimensional spectroscopy techniques and has published peer-reviewed scientific articles in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B and Optics Letters.

Teaching interests include Conceptual Physics, General Chemistry, Web Development (HTML, CSS and JavaScript), Java Programming and iOS App Development (Swift).

Raven Connel

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Roger Davy

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M.Ed. Brooklyn College – Brooklyn, NY – Students with Disabilities
BA Northeastern University – Boston, MA – Radio and Television Production / African-American History
John Dewey HS – Brooklyn, NY – Business Major

Worked in District 16 – Brooklyn, NY from 2018 – 2024 Supporting Students with Disabilities, D16 Math Champions, My Brother’s Keeper, and Success Academy After School test prep.

Before becoming an educator I worked in the music industry. This includes G-Unit Touring as the Music Tour Manager and Tour Coordinator. I was also the Music Production Manager. I have traveled to 30% of the world’s countries with musicians, dancers, and staff. I also worked for Ujima Sound Productions as Operations Manager, Musician Manager, live performance management and television performance coordination. I am the cool uncle in my family.

Brianna Grant

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Brian Hettinger

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Bachelors in Physical Education and Masters in Health Education, both from Adelphi University

Taught K-5 elementary PE in Manhattan from 2018-2020. Worked as a Special Education TA and Physical Education TA before becoming a full-time Physical Education and Health teacher at Evergreen Charter school on Long Island. My favorite sports teams are the NY Islanders and NY Mets. In my spare time, I like to watch movies with my wife and daughter.

Kristina Hodelín

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Dr. Kristina Hodelín is an Assistant Professor of History at BHSEC Brooklyn. She is also a writer, historian, and storyteller originally from Staten Island, NY. Growing up Caribbean-American with roots from Haiti and Cuba- stories have always been at the forefront of her life especially Haitian ‘Krik? Krak!’ tales. She has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Pace University, a double Masters in History from Columbia University and the London School of Economics and a PhD in History from Radboud University in the Netherlands. One of Kristina’s joys is writing for the public on her Instagram blog- @americanstoriesdiaspora. Her other hobbies include cooking, especially rice dishes across the Black diaspora and all things music, especially salsa, konpa, twobadou, rumba, bomba, morna, and flamenco. Her writing focuses on family narratives, secrets, migration and most importantly how silences of our past teach us so much about our present. She is excited to teach the cultural history of the Americas to BHSEC Bard students. She is currently working on a novel about the intersections of family secrets and forced migration from Haiti to NYC and Montreal over 5 generations of a Haitian family. The novel-in-progress, Shadows Outside the Gingerbread House, is featured as an honorable mention for the 2025 Miami Book Fair Emerging Writers Award.

Waking Kong

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B.A., The University of Vermont, History and Economics; M.A., The New School for Social Research, Economics; M.S., Pace University, Adolescent Education (Currently Pursuing).

Taught Mathematics at Uncommon Charter High School and Forte Preparatory Academy.

Academic interests include Political Economy, First Nation Economic Development, WWII Germany, Modern Tibetan History and Chinese Nationalism.

Personal Interests include hiking, backpacking, reading and cooking.

Meghan LeBorious

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BA, Art History, Tufts University; BFA, Painting & Mixed Media, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; MFA, Sculpture, Installation, & Mixed Media, Queens College; MS, Education, Hunter College. Certified to teach Mindfulness, Mindful Schools. Certified teacher of the 5Rhythms – a dance and movement mindfulness practice; and trained in Restorative Justice practices. Recently published first book “Teaching Mindfulness to Teens as a Path of Empowerment.” Believes that everyone has gifts and everyone is needed for what they bring.

Andrew Levine

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B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Chemistry; M.S.T., Boston College, Chemical Education; Ph.D., The CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College, Chemistry (Nanoscience sub-discipline); Has published peer-reviewed research articles in the following journals: Angewandte Chemie, Science of Advanced Materials, Nanoscale Advances, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Chemical Communications, and Chemical Science. Research interests include nanomaterials, organic photovoltaics, and climate change. Hobbies include 3D printing, cooking, and astrophotography.

Kendra Mahabir

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B.A., Biology Major, Literature of the African Diaspora Minor, Brooklyn College; A.A., Liberal Arts, Bard High School Early College Manhattan

Denise Marks

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B.Sc, Recreation Education, Herbert Lehman College; M,Sc, Recreation Education, Herbert Lehman College, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, MAT, Teaching Exceptional Learners, Relay GSE, Certificate MEXOXO – Take The Lead, Cornell University.

Taught Special Education, at New Pathways Academy. Served as Special Education Liaison, IEP Teacher, ELA Skills Teacher, Therapeutic Recreation Director, Recreation Coordinator, and Recreation Therapist in Health Care Industry, Taught English at St. Joseph’s Convent Girls High School St. Vincent & The Grenadines, and Wismar Hill Primary School, Guyana. Featured in the Bronx Special Education Newsletter.

Clay Matlin

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BA, Politics, Oberlin College; MFA, Art Criticism and Writing, School of Visual Arts; PhD, American History, University of Rochester. Taught philosophy, history, and art history in the Visual and Critical Studies and Honors programs at SVA for over a decade. Has published catalog essays for artists and in the Brooklyn Rail, CUNY Advocate, and Black Perspectives. Peer reviewer for Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two kids, and adopted bulldog, Beauty.

Jonathan Megnauth

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CUNY Queens College – Applied Mathematics and Economics (B.A.); Pure Mathematics (M.A.) CUNY Hunter College – Secondary Education (M.A.)

Taught at Maspeth High School and Hawtree Creek Middle School. Currently adjunct mathematics faculty at CUNY City Tech and a founding mathematics teacher at BHSEC Brooklyn.

Yolanda Nieves

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Instituto Tecnológico de Puerto Rico, Associates Degree Has worked in Elementary, Middle and a High School setting as a Parent Coordinator, Payroll, Purchasing, Pupil Accounting and Principal’s Secretary since 2010.

Virtudes Priatno-Hohl

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Christine Publik

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Christine was a special education teacher (8 years) and Coordinator of Student Activities (5 years) at Liberty Avenue Middle School in East New York where she transformed the staff and student culture through the Sunshine Committee and Culture Team, developed a culturally responsive Morning Meeting Advisory program and curriculum that incorporated social justice and mindfulness, developed the school’s curriculum for Restorative Justice Circles, and founded and coached the school’s district-winning debate team. Now at Bard Brooklyn, she hopes to be the bridge to connect students from the area into an early college high school.

Samantha Scully

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AA, Liberal Arts, Bard High School Early College Manhattan; BA, Dance Major, Political Science Minor, Hunter College; MSEd in School Counseling, Alfred University

Jaime Shearn Coan

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B.A., Comparative Literature, San Francisco State University; M.F.A., Creative Writing, City College of New York; Ph.D., English, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Jaime Shearn Coan’s research interests include queer and trans of color history and cultural production, resistance literature, life writing, archives, and performance. He is a former Postdoctoral Associate at the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ) at Rutgers-New Brunswick and Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow at ONE Institute. His dissertation, “Corporeal Archives of HIV/AIDS: The Performance of Relation,” was supported by a CUNY Dissertation Fellowship at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NYPL). He is currently at work on a study of the late Haitian-American poet, playwright, and activist Assotto Saint, and recently authored the introduction to Sacred Spells: Collected Works of Assotto Saint.

Rahsheda Smith

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A dedicated educator and lifelong learner from Brooklyn, with a background that includes graduating as Valedictorian from Talent Unlimited High School, where she majored in Drama. She earned her B.A. in Political Science with a Minor in Anthropology from Vassar College, and an M.S. in Secondary Education through Brooklyn College’s NYC Teaching Fellows program. Her professional experience encompasses roles such as NYC Teaching Fellows Advisor, Urban Teacher Residency Mentor, and Coordinator of Student Activities, alongside PSAL Cross Country Coach, and active participant in the UFT Civics Working Group, and a former Civics for All Teacher Leader. Her teaching portfolio spans history and humanities courses, which include Afrofuturism, Civic Action, Constitutional Law, and Global Independence Movements. Outside the classroom, she enjoys collecting FunkoPops, cosplaying, reading graphic novels, traveling, and practicing wellness through exercise and yoga, having completed the Brooklyn Half Marathon and NYC Bike Tour twice. A proud Brooklynite, she passionately roots for the Brooklyn Nets, Liberty, and Giants!

Calvin Walds

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Henry Wang

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(they/he)

A.B., Harvard College, Statistics; Ed.M. Harvard Graduate School of Education

Entering 5th year teaching high school mathematics, having previously taught statistics and math in another NYC public school and before that in Boston, MA. Previously worked in the private sector, did not enjoy it on an existential level. Very interested in the intersection of mathematics, art, and aesthetics. Interests outside of school include drawing, going to museums, gender studies, painting, and soccer.

Kay Zeng

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B.A., Chinese & Psychology, Hunter College; M.A., Mandarin & ESL Education, New York University. A dedicated Mandarin language educator with 7 years of experience teaching high school students. Supervised and led her students to win 1st and 2nd prizes in the prestigious “NYU Chinese Rock That Movie” competition.