Faculty at the Forefront: Brooke Keane Named First Cannon Endowed Chair for Science

Fund established to help retain the finest faculty members for our students

By Lee-Anne Black, editor

BIOLOGY IS life, but not your whole life.” That’s a favorite saying of Upper School biology teacher Brooke Keane, who is admired as much for her teaching skills as her people skills.

That philosophy was evident during my interview with Brooke for this story. We met during lunch in her classroom, where a dozen National Junior Honor Society members were making sandwiches to deliver to Crisis Assistance. As their advisor, Brooke gave the students space to lead, only answering their questions when needed—and often by asking a question back. Brooke also stopped to confer with a teaching peer about an upcoming test; check in on a student who needed to use her office as a quiet space to recalibrate after a rough morning; and share quick, positive comments with multiple students who stuck their heads in her door to say hello.

Brooke is the kind of person we want working with our kids,” says Matt Less, head of Upper School. “She is very empathetic, while also holding kids accountable. In her five years at Country Day, she has elevated both the biology program and the Upper School as a whole.

In addition to teaching Biology 1 and AP Biology, and co-advising NJHS, Brooke also serves as co-coordinator for the Bridge Program and Diversity Awareness Planning for the Upper School. In her first years of teaching at Country Day, she earned the Faculty Exceptional Performance Award.

For all these reasons and more, Brooke was named as the first Cannon Endowed Chair for Science. This newly established fund combines two longstanding endowments established by the James G. Cannon family, to support science and library programs, with the intent to help retain the finest faculty members at Country Day. Open to science teachers in all divisions, the endowment supports the salary of the named Cannon Science Chair for three years, as well as provides for an annual professional development grant of $3,000.

I was truly shocked and humbled when I learned I had received this recognition,” says Brooke. “I walked into a department of legends. From Lower School, through Middle School, and here in Upper School, Country Day students are taught by such talented, dedicated, and inspiring teachers.

Brooke is assessing her plans for the professional development portion of the endowed chair. She is focused on improving the student experience through the development of more 3-D modeling to enhance student understanding and enhancing the Summer Scholars program, which ensures students new to the Upper School are taught the lab skills they may not have received at their previous schools.

Building Relationships

Before joining Country Day, Brooke spent 11 years teaching science at Charlotte Catholic. “What I love about teaching at Country Day is the amount of time we have to really build relationships with the students,” she says. “Advisory is a wonderful program that allows us to connect with kids beyond the classroom and see them at their best.

“In the classroom, we have the time and freedom to go deeper. I think I’m a better teacher now because I can focus on improving each student’s level of understanding so they are better overall learners. It’s not just teaching lots of stuff.”

And that approach is certainly preparing our students for success in college. “In my first semester at Emory, I took an introductory biology lecture and lab,” says Adina Peck ’18. “Having taken AP Biology with Mrs. Keane, I felt much more comfortable with the material than students who were learning the concepts for the first time. I was able to focus more on the depth of my understanding rather than on time spent memorizing.”

What I love about teaching at Country Day is the amount of time we have to really build relationships with the students.

In teaching freshmen in Biology I and primarily seniors in AP Biology, Brooke enjoys seeing the growth in her students as a result of their Upper School experience. “At their core, kids are pleasers and want you to be happy with what they do. Our job is to meet them where they are,” concludes Brooke. “For me, what’s most important when they leave my class is how they feel.”

–Brooke Keane, Upper School Biology Teacher