Marshall (Mara) Claffy

Marshall (Mara) Claffy was a Spanish major and received teaching certification in that subject, doing her student teaching at Pottsgrove High School. Graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2012, she also was a member of the Modern Language Honor Society, founder of the Oaks Spanish Club ( a group tutoring service), and recipient of the Education Department’s Barbara Olmo McInnis 1957 Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding student in teacher education. She is currently a contracted Spanish teacher in the West Chester Area School District, and she formerly taught in the Central Bucks School District.

Ursinus prepared me for success in education by encouraging me to be a life-long learner in all classrooms (even my own). My experience at Ursinus gave me a moral and theoretical foundation for becoming a dynamic and progressive teacher. My professors taught me to care about the “bigger picture” and to see myself as a functioning part of the American education system, regardless of the changes it would inevitably endure over time. The program encouraged me to believe that I could make a difference in the schools where I would be employed and in the lives of my students, and now I do! I get up every morning and look forward to my “job” because the teacher-education program at Ursinus was a truly nurturing community for the educator within me to grow. I am so thankful for my experience and I am proud to say I studied Education at Ursinus.