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MORE ABOUT HANNAH
Hannah MacDonald chose Hofstra for its five-year BS/MSEd in Early Childhood/Elementary Education and Special Education dual-degree program. She added a musical theater minor so her future classrooms would be filled with movement and music.
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“Before coming to Hofstra, I performed in productions of Les Miserables and Hairspray, and many other shows,” she said. “In the classes where I’ve been a student teacher, I like to engage the children with singing, dancing, and hands-on activities. My minor in musical theater has given me the skills and confidence to incorporate that into my lessons.”
Hofstra’s Field Placement Office gave Hannah the support and resources to succeed in three different student teaching assignments. One of these led to a job as a substitute teacher in the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park Union Free School District.
“Hofstra is unique in that it is committed to placing students in schools where they think they will get the most out of their student teaching experience,” MacDonald said. “The schools where I have taught have been super welcoming and nurturing.”
Despite a heavy course load, MacDonald has made time at Hofstra to indulge her love of performing. She is active with TranscenDANCE, a non-audition dance team, and Makin’ Treble, an all-treble-voiced a cappella group.
“Performing with TranscenDANCE at the 2021 Fall Fest has been one of my favorite Hofstra moments,” she said. “It was an amazing opportunity to dance in front of such a big audience and open for rapper T-Pain.”
Last year, Makin’ Treble made it to the Northeastern Quarterfinal ICCA competition in New York City. Hannah choreographed the group’s 10-minute set. “It was a tremendous undertaking, but a great honor,” she said. “There are 21 of us in the group, and they’re all my best friends on campus.”
» Hannah’s story isn’t unique. In fact, among Hofstra University’s 2020-2021 undergraduate degree recipients, 91% of alumni from the School of Education who responded to our graduation survey or other reliable sources (52% knowledge rate) reported that they were employed or had started or were planning to start graduate school within one year of graduation.