Ms. Presley Mahanna is a new science teacher at Abington High School this year.

This is her third year teaching; she previously taught at Murdock High School in Winchendon for the two years.

Mahanna graduated from Somerset-Berkley Regional High School. She then went to Westfield State University where she majored in Biology.

When asked why she wanted to become a teacher Mahanna said, “I had an awesome chemistry teacher in high school that really made me fall in love with science specifically.” She went on to say that she would assist other students in her class and really enjoyed being that helping hand “…That’s what really drew me to the teaching aspect of it.”

When asked why Mahanna decided to come teach at Abington she said, “The values of the school really drew me in, and the community, and the size too, it’s like not too big, not too small.” During her last teaching job, Mahanna lived in central Massachusetts, but really wanted to move back to the south shore to be closer to family.

Mahanna teaches five total classes; three sophomore physical science classes and two freshmen level 1 biology classes this year.

When asked what her favorite aspects of the year have been so far Mahanna said, “I really like that we’re kind of getting back to normal a little bit, and I’m able to do more hands on things, like labs.” She also said she was happy to have full classes in front of her this year rather than having to teach seperate groups online. She said, “Teaching on Zoom was not fun.”

Outside of school, Mahanna enjoys going on hikes, she said “…Not hard hikes, I’m not like climbing 4,000 footers.” She also has a 4-year old pug named Muffin that she loves to go on walks with. She also just loves a stay-in day where she gets to binge-watch Netflix.

Mahanna also loves the fall season. She remarked, “…Apple-picking, pumpkin-carving, I just love the fall.”

We are happy to have Ms. Mahanna aboard the Abington High School staff!