WOODBURY — Ever since she was a little kid, Molly Malumphy knew what she wanted to do with her life.

“Ever since I could ever remember, I’ve always wanted to teach,” Malumphy said.

But figuring out exactly where she would fit in took a bit of trial and error.

“I used to work in a daycare and I was like, kindergartners and elementary is not for me,” she said. “I did not want to deal with the snot and gross things, and then I got older and I started working with the older kids at the daycare and I was like, OK, I can handle this, and it wasn’t until high school until I [knew] which subject to choose.”

Malumphy, a student teacher at Nonnewaug, is training to earn her teaching certification with the help of math teachers Kristen Pisano and Lauren O’Brien.

Pisano says that she gets student teachers about every six years, and Malumphy helps teach five classes this fall. She teaches three different courses, one of which is honors geometry, where students Max Nichols and Ethan Butkus think she is doing very well. 

“It almost feels like she is a teacher,” said Butkus. “It helps having another teacher.” 

Pisano also thinks that Malumphy is a good help in the classroom, saying, “We work as a team” and “You can get more individualized instruction.”

Nichols agrees.

“It’s really helpful to have two teachers in the classroom so that if one teacher is with somebody else, you can still get the help you need,” Nichols said.

“If they struggle, there is a teacher there to help,” Butkus said.

Pisano thinks that not all student teachers will do as well as Malumphy.

“I’ve had student teachers in the past where they struggled more,” Pisano said.

As Malumphy’s student teaching experience comes to a close, she’s “working on this really big portfolio for the last two months.” After she’s finished, she said she plans to start substitute teaching at Nonnewaug.

“I love it here,” Malumphy said. “I don’t want to leave.”