Faculty Highlight: Mrs. Spano
From working in the field to teaching in the classroom, Mrs. Jill Spano has always loved science. As a biology teacher and girls varsity basketball coach, Mrs. Spano spends most of her time around Western Reserve Academy.
She loves having curious students, and always tries to make classes exciting. Her charismatic personality spills over into her teaching, making her students love biology almost as much as she does.
Mrs. Spano discovered her love for life sciences while attending Smith College in Massachusetts. During this time she began taking courses on marine biology, and became fascinated with living things, especially invasive species.
She began her career cleaning dishes in her mentor’s lab. She says, “I just wanted to be in there with her and learning. She gave me a chance.” While studying under her mentor she watched labs and collected data.
After graduating from college, she enrolled in graduate school to earn her masters. Throughout grad school she performed hands-on labs, researched data, and prepared experiments. One of her highlights was scuba diving. Mrs. Spano loved her lab work, saying, “I was constantly active… I got to do the fun stuff.”
Around the same time, she accepted a position teaching marine biology to elementary students. Despite her love for experiments, she realized she enjoyed teaching even more. She went back to school to become a certified teacher. She says, “My love for teaching came out of passion.”
After becoming a teacher, Mrs. Spano spent sixteen years teaching at Hathaway Brown.
Eventually she decided to join the WRA community, and has been a major asset to WRA.
Along with teaching classes such as Biology, Ocean Topics, and serving as a mentor for some Compass Projects, she assists coaching girls varsity basketball. She loves the sport and describes it as, “an opportunity to be social.” She enjoys watching the team improve. Anyone that walks by the gym will notice her infectious smile and enthusiasm when coaching.
She also helps as a girls dorm crew member, which has provided her with opportunities to bond with a variety of students. She spends her free time outdoors and with her family.
Mrs. Spano is an essential teacher and the school would not be the same without her.
– Erin Bickford ’26
The Reserve Record 