Congratulations to Gilman’s 2026 Penn Fellows Raymond Diaz-Mena and Amiri Rivers-David, who will both soon complete their master’s from the University of Pennsylvania.

When Raymond Diaz-Mena was growing up in the Bronx, his family did their best to support him in pursuing any opportunities available to him. Two teachers who saw his potential at the public elementary school he attended set him on a new path when they encouraged him to apply to an independent middle school that recruited students from diverse backgrounds and low-income families. “That school changed the trajectory of my academic journey,” he said. Like many independent schools, it provided a strong curriculum and focused on community.

For his high school years, Diaz went on to the Browning School for boys, located in a wealthy area of town on Park Avenue. “As just one of a few students of color, it felt like people were always watching me.” And maybe they were — not for the reasons he thought but because of the success he had academically and socially. He found confidence in math class, which then spread to the rest of his studies. He became involved in sports like soccer, fencing, and track, and clubs involving art, admissions, and a Latinx affinity group. “I felt like I was making an impact.” His experiences there provided perspective he would later lean on as an educator.

Diaz and his siblings are the first in their family to pursue higher education, as he enrolled at Middlebury College. He took an education class on a whim, which he enjoyed so much, he decided to make it his minor. When he first applied to the University of Pennsylvania for grad school, he didn’t get accepted but was not deterred. After graduation, he taught fifth grade in Connecticut for one year, where he learned a lot about classroom management and solidified his love for teaching math.

With a year of experience, he applied to UPenn again, and this time, he got in. The Penn Fellows program was an easy sell, and so was Gilman. He visited campus during the Festival of Languages in the Middle School and was impressed with Modern Languages Department Chair Jessica Nelson (also from the Bronx), Head of Middle School Armond Lawson (who he calls their “fearless leader”), and Co-Director of Penn Fellows Beth Knapp. “It felt like a good place to work.”

In his first year teaching seventh grade math, he naturally fell into the role of super-supportive teacher, answering each and every question the boys asked. He soon realized that style would not be sustainable, and he wanted the students to develop more independence and “scrappiness” like Diaz remembers having as a child. For his inquiry project, he asked: What happens to student resilience when I foster a classroom environment centered on intellectual risk-taking? His findings showed that teamwork resulted in peer affirmation and that the more comfortable the students became, the more their math anxiety diminished. The boys learned that “the struggle is part of the process … that they can do difficult things.”

Next year Diaz looks forward to returning to Browning in New York to teach middle school math and science. He thanks Math Chair Hannah Kolkin, who served as his mentor at Gilman, for modeling vulnerability, and the whole department for supporting him. “The Gilman Middle School faculty community is really strong,” he said. “We work so well together.”

Amiri Rivers-David grew up in Chicago. He enjoyed physics in high school but didn’t develop a strong love for the subject until he got to Pomona College, where he had an excellent professor whom he credits with sparking his interest. He even thought about following in his professor’s footsteps and pursuing a Ph.D. to eventually become a professor himself. When he heard about the Penn Fellows program, he thought that would be a perfect way to explore teaching as a first step toward that potential goal.

When he visited Gilman, he found the people to be “interesting and passionate” and the community to be “really strong.” He spoke with a previous Penn Fellow who now teaches full-time at Gilman — Upper School English teacher Devina Bhalla — and she had only good things to say about the program.

Rivers-David has taught two sections of Physics during his two years at Gilman. He said he enjoyed the freedom the independent school curriculum allowed. “It showed me a lot about who I am as a teacher.” He also appreciated the abundant resources available, often bringing his classes outside on the football and soccer fields and tennis and basketball courts. “Physics is everywhere,” he said. “I tried ways to relate my students’ interest in sports to the curriculum.” He noted that the experiential nature of this way of teaching kept students engaged. “It definitely worked better than lecturing,” he said with a smile. “It connected the dots for them so that they could see things happening in real life; it wasn’t so abstract.” Especially for students who weren’t naturally interested in math and physics, Rivers-David found that this method allowed them to focus on the topics more easily because they were participating in something they already knew about.

Not surprisingly, Rivers-David’s inquiry project asked the question: How can I foster a collaborative and experiential learning environment in my physics classroom? Many of the lab assignments were done in groups with students taking on different responsibilities. Through Rivers-David’s observations, he realized the importance of scaffolding and the pacing of information distribution. He also solidified his understanding of the social-emotional component of learning, how a teacher needs to get “buy-in” from students for them to learn best, and how to support students as they work through the complexities of interpersonal relationships.

Though Rivers-David embraced the two years he spent at Gilman, he has decided not to continue teaching and is thinking about other ways to incorporate education into his career. He thanks his mentor, Upper School Science Teacher Christine DiMenna, who supported him with teaching resources, thoughtful feedback, and guidance.

Learn more about the Penn Fellows Program at Gilman