Faculty Spotlight: A moment with…Catherine Mazur-Jefferies

in Highlight
November 30th, 2017

1. What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?

There are so many parts of my job that I enjoy! I love the challenge of creating interesting, engaging, and fun lessons that best use students’ time. When this works well, there’s a special buzz around a classroom as students work together. That is the absolute best! Watching people of many different nationalities and language backgrounds, happily collaborating or discussing an issue – I love it! Of course, I also love getting to know students individually – every day I get to speak with amazing people from around the world, which is so cool.

2. What did you do before working at CELOP?

I taught in Poland and Portugal, and at a number of colleges in the Boston area. I also wrote materials for textbooks –I even worked on some of the books that we use at CELOP! I’m most proud of Reading and Vocabulary Focus 4, which was published through National Geographic Learning. I read hundreds of National Geographic articles to choose what I wanted to include in the book! Now that I’m at CELOP, I still do a bit of writing. For example, I just finished writing the teacher’s guide for a book in the Pathways series. I like writing textbooks, but I really love being in the classroom!

3. Where are you from?

I’m from a very small town in Vermont, which is a state north of Massachusetts. It’s beautiful! When I was growing up, there were only 500 people in my hometown. I still think of it as ‘home’.

4. Favorite thing to do in Boston?

Teach classes at CELOP, of course! I also really like meeting friends in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library. The courtyard has a fountain and tables and you feel as if you are in a European city.

5. If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Hmmm. If I had to just eat one food, it would be chocolate. For a whole meal… probably a chicken curry with rice and vegetables, followed by ice cream for dessert.

6. What’s your favorite TV Show?

I love shows about time travel. The show Timeless was great. Lately, I’ve been watching Doctor Who with my son, which is fun, too.

7. What is the best destination you’ve travelled to?

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to a lot of amazing places, and many have a special place in my heart. I think my all-time favorite might be Greece. It’s incredibly beautiful, and I’m fascinated by its history. It also has delicious food, gorgeous beaches, and friendly people.

8. Favorite restaurant in Boston?

I love the café Tatte, which has amazing pastries and Middle Eastern food. And it’s pretty close to CELOP…

9. What are your hobbies?

I love, love, love reading a good book or watching a good movie. I really enjoy baking and traveling, too. I like skiing, figure skating and sledding in the winter – I’m kind of looking forward to the snow!

10. What is your hidden talent?

Hmmm. I don’t know if this counts, but I’m very good at decorating cakes. I love decorating cakes and cupcakes for my kids’ birthdays and other special occasions, too! My favorites are ones where each cupcake looks like one of the guests. I’ve also designed larger cakes to look like a polar bear, a whale, a dog, a flamingo, flip flops, a soccer jersey, and Charlie Brown, just to name a few.

Some examples of Catherine’s impressive cake decorating skills.

11. What would people never guess you do in your role?

Hmmm. Maybe people would be surprised to know that teachers are all on different committees, which work together to help CELOP run well. I’m on the Curriculum Committee this year. We review the learning objectives to make sure students are learning the appropriate skills for each course and level. There are a lot of great teachers at CELOP, and it’s good to have the opportunity to work together!