Rachel Fawcett
Honours B.A. (Creative Writing, English Language, and Literature; Classical Studies), M.A. (Classics and Archaeology)
Subject: Language Arts (Primary and Foundations)
What will my child walk away with? A stronger and more confident literary voice that expresses their own ideas and perspectives. My goal is for students to leave my class with a genuine appreciation for how identity, culture, and representation operate in texts across vastly different historical periods and how their own experiences shape the stories we read. Alongside that bigger interpretive work, I also help younger students build strong foundations in grammar, spelling, and sentence structure so they can express their ideas with clarity and confidence. My background in Creative Writing, English, Language, and Literature, and Classics and Archaeology allows me to teach about culture and identity in literary representations with both analytical depth and creative flexibility.
What can families expect? A teacher who has been facilitating learning in formal and informal roles since 2010 beginning as a figure skating and fastpitch coach, moving through tutoring and teaching assistant work at both the high school (Language Arts and History) and university level (Ancient Greek History and Roman Society), and now as a Primary and Foundations instructor with Brain Power. That breadth of experience across very different learner contexts makes me a flexible and perceptive teacher who adapts to each student’s needs.
What does class actually feel like? Expressive and discovery-driven. I am deeply passionate about questions of identity, and that passion shows up in how I invite students to bring their own perspectives into the analytical work. Students are not passive readers of texts in my classroom, they are active interpreters with their own legitimate views.
How do you challenge a curious mind? I challenge students to develop an original and personal position through close reading and to provide evidence from the texts to support their opinions. My research on Athenian depictions of Achaemenid Persians showed me how much complexity is lost when we force a text or representation into a single interpretive frame, and I teach students to navigate and embrace that complexity rather than flatten it.
Credentials and Experience M.A. in Classics and Archaeology, Brock University. Honours B.A. with Specialization in Creative Writing, English Language and Literature, and Major in Classical Studies, Western University. Eight published works during undergraduate studies including seven poems and one narrative essay. Teaching assistant at Brock University leading seminars in ancient Greek History and Roman Society. Teaching and coaching experience since 2010 across figure skating, fastpitch, tutoring, and university-level instruction.
Why Rachel? Why Brain Power?
I became a classicist because I found that ancient texts and imagery prompt surprisingly contemporary questions about who gets to be seen, heard, and remembered, and I teach because I want students to have that same experience of recognizing themselves in unexpected places. Brain Power’s students are ready for that kind of encounter.