Isaiah Thaxton
Staff Reporter
February 1, 2019
If you ever thought that teachers have no life, you probably haven’t met Ms. Chaudhry. A lobbyist, teacher, and fan of The Walking Dead, she does it all.
Mabrooka Chaudhry was born in Pakistan and lived there until her family immigrated to the United States in 1982. She attended Centennial Lane elementary school in Howard County. She recalls school being “fine,” and that “I didn’t understand much of what was happening,” but she remembers everyone being nice. Ms. Chaudhry attended UMBC got her degree in history and a minor in biology.
Ms. Chaudhry has been teaching at Atholton for 21 years, and each year students are captivated by her unique personality. Junior Ezra Silver- Isenstadt, one of her current students, said he admires “the way she respects her students,” and that “she is a very upstanding teacher and I admire her for that.” Senior Grace Woodson agreed calling her “wise, honest (especially about her hate for bananas), chill and awesome.” She also said, “she really cares about her students because she wants everyone to do great.”
Not only do the students at Atholton know Ms. Chaudhry is an amazing teacher, people across the nation do. She has won many awards during her tenure at Atholton. During her first year teaching, she won the Sallie Mae Teacher of the Year Award, which honors first-year teachers across the United States. She also won the National Milken Educator Award and Atholton Senior Class Teacher of the year. “One is fine, I don’t like the attention.” Ms. Chaudhry has also been nominated for Maryland Teacher of the Year.
This year she is teaching World History AP, Modern World History, and AP Comparative Government. She said she doesn’t have an ideal class, “I don’t have an ideal class I’ve taught all different levels and different content and I can’t say I prefer one over another,” and that “I am committed to my profession. I enjoy it. The day that I stop enjoying I should probably retire. So I don’t think of things in terms of ideals, I think of things in terms of making the best of what’s there in front of me.”
At school, Ms. Chaudhry is part of many different clubs. She is on the Selection Committee for National Honor Society, Sponsor for Muslim Student Awareness, and a member of the School Improvement Team. Other clubs she has sponsored in the past include Multicultural club and Human Rights Club.
“I don’t think of things in terms of ideals, I think of things in terms of making the best of what’s there in front of me.”
During her free time when Ms. Chaudhry isn’t at school, she is either spending time with family, doing community-based activities, reading, or gardening. She has been part of the Howard County Muslim Council, currently serves as the Building Representative for the Teachers Union and also is on their Government Relations Committee, she also lobbies in Annapolis for teachers. She describes lobbying as “fun” and ‘interesting.” She enjoys “talking to people who are in disagreement,” she finds it more interesting than talking to elected officials who are in agreement with you, because “the challenge is to change the minds of who aren’t [in agreement with you].”
An honest, amazing, great person and someone who doesn’t believe in pets are some ways to describe Ms. Chaudhry. Her way of connecting with students and the community around her makes her a truly incredible person and teacher. “I just like kids, I think it’s fun, and I’m hoping they are having fun too.”
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