Dawn MacFarland

Dawn MacFarland has 19 years of service to military-connected students and families. She has taught at London Central HS, WT Sampson M/HS, Hanau MS, Hanau HS, Alexander M. Patch HS, and Stuttgart HS. Ms. MacFarland teaches Language Arts and Humanities; she maintains her commitment to DoDEA’s mission to educate, engage, and empower all students by creating opportunities for her learners to have a challenging, creative, and diverse student-centered curriculum. Her lifelong commitment is dedicated to educating the whole child—mind and heart.

Ms. MacFarland’s devotion to ‘whole child’ education began in her first year of teaching in Tucson, AZ at Howenstine Magnet HS, a school dedicated to full inclusion of all students with and without disabilities. This unique beginning to her career cultivated a mindset that looks beyond typical markers of success, and dives deeper into areas of long-term student development and growth. Her entire concept of teaching revolves around the idea that in education, as in life, leaders need to build relationships, and create climates of security, in order to get the best out of the communities they serve.

Ms. MacFarland advocates for the whole child and relationship-building approach to education and school community. This year at Stuttgart High School, she organized and implemented a program called the social-emotional learning (SEL) matrix for colleagues and administrators to access essential SEL information related to the 800+ military-connected students SHS serves. In addition, she is responsible for reshaping SHS’s detention program to include an SEL-driven approach to discipline.