New math teacher brings ‘No Discount Policy’ to PA

October 25, 2019

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The only sound is the crinkling of a granola bar wrapper and the rustling of paper. I sit at a table, turning the pages of an elementary school yearbook from 2002. On the page in front of me, there’s a girl who looks eerily similar to the teacher in front of the classroom.

The girl in the picture is Mrs. Owens, who has been teaching math at PA for a little over two months now.

Mrs. Owens lived in Allenstown until she was 4 years old then her family moved to Pembroke. While she never attended PA (Mrs. Owens attended high school in Haverhill, N.H.) she knew from a young age that the classroom was her comfort zone. 

“When I was younger, I wanted to teach everyone everything, all of the time, because I wanted to learn everything,” says Mrs. Owens. 

Mrs. Owens previously taught at Farmington High School where she became a part of the University of New Hampshire’s Upward Bound. Students who attend the summer program learn “No Discount, Full Value Policy,” a policy that prohibits the mistreatment of peers as well as teachers. 

Mrs. Owens’s course prospectus mentions the No Discount Policy. 

The “No Discount Policy” ensures that students respect others. It may be referred to as something different. For example, “open mindset is a key term in the education field,” Mrs. Owens wrote in an email.

The policy stresses positive thinking, and avoiding phrases such as “I’m stupid” or “I can’t do this,” thus keeping the mind open to the idea of success. This idea helps students and people of all ages stop building walls around themselves that make it impossible to learn.

“I value the ‘No Discount Policy’ very much and I believe that it adds an element of safety to the classroom,” said Mrs. Owens. 

The little girl in the picture has found home in the front of the classroom.

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