Hornig-Gwen

Faculty

Gwen Hornig

Eighth Grade English Teacher

Gwen Hornig completed her undergraduate degree at NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a concentration in theatre, empathy, and education. Her senior thesis focused on arts education as integral to cultivating a culture of belonging in schools. She is a Black Pine Circle School alum, and joined the faculty four years ago as an apprentice in upper school drama classes. After this year-long apprenticeship, Gwen developed and taught the sixth grade Socratic seminar course in addition to teaching seventh grade drama for two years. She began teaching eighth grade English in 2021. Gwen teaches the after-school drama club and is one of soccer coaches for the BPC soccer team. She has a very silly kitty named Twix, loves to camp and hike in beautiful places, and has recently taken up pottery.

Teaching Since

2019

Pronouns

she/her

Contact

Email >

Why I Work with Children

I think there is profound value in a child’s candor and vulnerability. I seek to foster those qualities as sources of strength, individuality, and empathy as each child figures out how they move through the world.

A Favorite Book

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk. I am forever in awe of the body’s incredible synchronicity with the emotional mind and memory.

Quick Fact

Ask me about the time I had a magical and terrifying stand-off with a bison in the Badlands.

Other Faculty for This Grade

Alyson Mitchell

Eighth Grade History & Geography Teacher

Keen on floating houses and mutant Basset Hounds

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Andra Marziano

Dean of Upper School Students, Assistant Head of Upper School, Upper School Drama Teacher

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Apollo Papafrangou

Sixth Grade Socratic Seminar Teacher, Upper School Assistant

I’m a published author.

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Brett Hollingshead

Upper School Physical Education Teacher

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Carla Rodea

Upper School Spanish Teacher

I speak several languages.

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Carwai Seto

Eighth Grade Math Teacher

Loves to travel

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Cassie McFall

Upper School Assistant

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Cloe Monleon

Upper School Spanish Teacher

I’ve traveled to five continents & only learned to speak English in my late 20s.

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Gerry Branner

Upper School Physical Education Teacher & Athletic Director

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Jerry Kennedy

Seventh and Eighth Grade Music Teacher, Band Director

Performed music in South Africa during the end of legal apartheid.

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Jonathan Cohen

Eighth Grade Science Teacher

Apprenticed with a luthier, adept with a paddle

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Marcelo Vaz

Seventh Grade History Teacher, Upper School Director of Outdoor Education

Rode a camel through the Sahara

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Maria Palmer

Sixth Grade English Teacher, Eighth Grade Creative Writing Teacher

Loves to write or paint

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Nataliya Vdovychenko

Upper School Assistant Teacher

Fluent Russian speaker

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Rebecca Caine

Upper School Art Teacher

I scuba dive!

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Rem Djemilev

BPC String Orchestra Leader

Creates musical arrangements for fun

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Sarah Roggero

Upper School Spanish Teacher

My birthday is April 1st, no joke!

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Xiaoyan Xu

Fifth-Eighth Grade Mandarin Teacher

Once ate deep-fried silkworms

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