Six new teachers are joining the Whitman community this year and settling into their new positions. They are excited to get to know their students and embark on a new journey at Whitman.

Math: Jillian Haker, Derek Manon and Franco Polar

Honors Algebra 2 and Financial Math teacher Jillian Haker has been teaching for seven years. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio until her family moved to Hawaii when she was 12 years old. There, she graduated from high school and moved back to the mainland to attend Manhattanville College in New York, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in political science and later earned a master’s degree in math and education.

Before moving to Maryland last year, she taught a variety of math and science classes in New York City, such as AP Calculus, Chemistry and Physics. She is eager for the opportunity to connect with her students and get them excited about learning, as well as becoming part of the Whitman community. 

“I’m really excited to get involved in some of the community aspects like going to sporting events and the different activities the school has,” Haker said.

Derek Manon grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Saint Francis College in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Before accepting his new position to teach Algebra 1 and Honors Geometry at Whitman, Manon taught math at North Bethesda Middle School for 16 years. However, he has been a part of the Whitman community for 17 years as the coach of the varsity wrestling team. Never having taught high school students before, Manon is excited to embrace the challenge of teaching older students.

“I’m curious to learn about new strategies and things that I can do to best help my students grow and learn on the high school level,” Manon said.

Franco Polar graduated from the University of Maryland last spring with a degree in education and was an assistant math teacher in Prince George’s County before coming to Whitman. Polar is not new to the area, as he grew up in Silver Spring and attended Paint Branch High School. His new job at Whitman teaching Honors Precalculus and Algebra 1 is his first official teaching position.

He is excited to get to know his students and help them achieve their full potential in class, he said.

“The best feeling is when a student gets it,” Polar said. “Especially when they have been putting in the work and it pays off on the assessments.”

Social Studies: Lily Lehan

Born and raised in Skowhegan, Maine, Honors US History and Connections teacher Lily Lehan is beginning her first year as a full-time teacher.

After graduating from high school, Lehan completed 15 weeks of student teaching at a middle school in Maine and then went on to attend the University of Maine-Orono. Before moving to Maryland this year, she was a substitute teacher in Maine.

 Out of all of the new experiences that will come as she starts at Whitman, Lehan is most excited to form connections with her students this year.

“I hope that I can be an emotional support for my students and show them that I’m a person as much as they are,” Lehan said.

World Language: Ilenia Di Cesare

Italian, Latin and Spanish teacher Ilenia Di Cesare grew up in Rieti, Italy, and attended the Sapienza University of Rome before moving to Maryland. She has 16 years of teaching experience. Di Cesare teaches Italian 1-5, Latin 1 and 2 and Honors Spanish 3. She also sponsors the Italian and Latin clubs. Before coming to Whitman, she taught at John F. Kennedy High School, Sherwood High School and William H. Farquhar Middle School. 

She believes that having strong teacher-student relationships is crucial to the learning process, which is why she is excited to connect with her students and create different opportunities to help them continue to improve their proficiency.

“[The students] can speak the language pretty fluently, and they are eager to learn,” Di Cesare said, “and that makes me happy.”

Engineering: Tyler Brooks

Digital Electronics and Aerospace Engineering teacher Tyler Brooks has been teaching for 20 years. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska but lived in many different places growing up, including Germany, Colorado and North Carolina. Before joining the Viking community, Brooks taught at Clarksburg High School for 11 years.

He aims to engage his students by getting them involved in the classroom and working on projects.

“[I’m excited] to do a lot of hands-on and project-based learning,” Brooks said. “In Digital Electronics we will be building circuits.”