PHS new teacher profiles

Whitney Davidson-Hinz

Whitney Davidson-Hinz has wanted to teach history since high school, crediting one of her own teachers as the inspiration behind her choice of career.

“[She] changed my life and really inspired me ... I decided I wanted to do for others what she had done for me ... I had originally thought about history as a collection of facts and dates, and [my teacher] encouraged me to think about it as a discipline, the craft of a historian [as well as] a contested narrative that people fight over,” said Davidson-Hinz.

Over her past 20 years as a teacher, Davidson-Hinz has applied her craft across the country in places as wideranging as California, Iowa, and New York. However, she sees the Princeton community as uniquely encouraging towards developing meaningful connections between teachers and students.

“In speaking with many, many people in this community, I got the sense that this was a place that had a lot of shared values with me in terms of my own approach to teaching ... on day one, emphasizing the importance of developing relationships with kids and keeping that central to my work was very inspiring, and you don’t always hear that,” said Davidson-Hinz.

This year, Davidson-Hinz will be teaching U.S. History I and AP U.S. History. In the classroom, she strives to encourage open discussion and careful source analysis, emphasizing the role history class plays in developing essential life skills.

“The skills we are reinforcing in history are critical toward any number of aspects of living a good life ... that would include the development of critical thinking skills, our media landscape [being] saturated with AI as well as misinformation ... you need to be able to distinguish between what’s accurate and what’s inaccurate. I think history [also] teaches empathy as we learn about other ways of life ... it gives you a way to think about why things are the way they are today,” said Davidson-Hinz.

Davidson-Hinz is also a singer-songwriter, and enjoys performing her original compositions at Open Mic nights. She also frequently visits national parks with her family and loves collecting stamps at each one for her national park passport.

Prutha Patel

As a self-described adventurer and thrill-seeker, Prutha Patel’s newest adventure brings her from Minnesota to PHS’s math department to teach Geometry and Pre-Calculus Accelerated. Patel joins PHS after two years of teaching at Albert Lea Area schools in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where she served as both a technology teacher and robotics coach.

“Two years ago, I was a first-year teacher and I accepted a role [to] teach technology instead of math. I really enjoyed teaching technology, [and] I was also teaching designing, robotics, 3D designing, [and] Python,” said Patel. “My students were very interested in robotics, [so] I decided to start a club and coach them [for robotics competitions].”

Growing up, Patel was inspired to become a teacher by her father, who was an educator himself. However, as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, Patel decided to pursue computer engineering — but later realized that path was not for her.

“I did take some computer classes in college, but I ended up liking the math part of computer science and not the computer part of it. So that’s why I decided to just major in math and become a teacher,” said Patel.

Although Patel chose to teach at PHS for its learning environment, she also recognizes a certain competition between students that was not particularly evident at her former school.

“For students [at PHS], they are constantly looking for that competition. I think that’s the mindset that they have: ‘Oh, if my friend took Accelerated Geometry, I have to take that as well’,” said Patel. “Everyone’s different, and just because your friend is ahead doesn’t mean that ... you have to [be] as well.”

Thus, Patel hopes to create a more collaborative and engaging environment in her classes.

“Oftentimes, it is working with someone and not having to submit any formal paper. Instead, [students are] working with someone on a board where ... you just have to write an answer. So [students are] freely thinking — and whatever is in their mind, they’re writing it down. It just helps them look at math in a different perspective.”

Jessica Zhang

Jessica Zhang, PHS’s newest art teacher, says she could have predicted half of her title — “teacher” — ever since she was a kid.

“I always knew that I was going to be a teacher because my parents always said that I was very bossy growing up,” said Zhang.

However, the “art” part would have come as a surprise to a younger Zhang.

“I was really bad at [art] when I was a kid — it was something that was forced onto me, so I never really liked it. But then I had some really good teachers in high school that really helped nurture my creative expression, and that’s where that passion came,” said Zhang.

This year, Zhang will be teaching four sections of Studio Art I, the introductory visual arts course at PHS which is the prerequisite for all other classes in the program. For her, one of the main attractions of PHS was its strong art program.

“I was very impressed [by] the Numina Gallery and I was very inspired and ... very motivated to work here,” said Zhang. “I get to develop a lot of one-on-one relationships with students [and] we do deeper engagement with the work rather than the fast pace of elementary school.”

Zhang is a recent graduate of The College of New Jersey and was previously an elementary school teacher in the South Brunswick school district. For her, the switch, while noticeable, has been worth it.

“I [taught] in elementary school before this, [and] it’s very different. I really like [PHS] so far because I get to develop a lot of one-on-one relationships with students, [and] we do deeper engagement with the work rather than like the fast pace of elementary school,” said Zhang.

In her free time, Zhang hopes to continue her various hobbies, both artistic — stained glass, working with yarn and fabric — and not, like cooking and long walks in the park. However, her biggest passion is her students.

“[I’m] passionate about seeing students’ confidence as they become more familiar and they develop skills in art,” said Zhang. “ I would say [it’s] always [about] the connec- tions that I get to make with students.” grow ... [it’s] always [about] the connections that I get to make with students.”