Interim Upper School Director Maren Anderson (pronounced Maren, like Karen) is stepping into the director role after being the Science Department Chair. She was born in Minnesota, on the Iron Range, but moved away when she was 3, and moved back to Minnesota in 2020 from San Francisco. She would like students to call her Ms. Anderson or Ms. A.
An educator for fourteen years, Anderson was a full-time teacher for ten of those years, then started to do department chair work. She then became Director of Experiential Education at her old school, but continued to teach in classrooms for that time. She continued to teach a few classes when she became science department chair at Blake, so this is the first time she will not be a classroom teacher in her 18 years of education. She is disappointed to not be teaching this year, but she says “the way I kind of wrapped my head around it this year is that I have the opportunity to be in more classrooms with more students, and get to know all of you in different spaces than just my one classroom or two classrooms throughout the year.”
Anderson is excited to get started in her new role this year, “I think coming during COVID was a very tough time to start into a new community and a new school, and so this gets to be my year where I start fresh and see people and meet new people.” Her main goal for this year is to “be curious, to ask questions, to just get out in spaces and see people that I haven’t seen yet.” She also hopes to get to as many student productions, sports games, and other events as possible. She is most excited to get to know all the students “not just in a science classroom or as a science student.”
Her favorite film has been the same her entire life: “My Fair Lady.” She says, “I had this obsession with Audrey Hepburn when I was little, and that kind of persisted to me, seeing every single one of her films when I was between probably 10 and 15, and ‘My Fair Lady’ is one that has always stuck with me and been one of my favorites.” She also loves to try new restaurants in the Twin Cities because she recently moved here and got “really jazzed about being able to have a whole new city, or a couple new cities and expansive area outside, getting to try new foods.” Her favorite Twin Cities are Hola Arepa, a Latin American restaurant in South Minneapolis, and Young Joni, a restaurant that serves American dishes in Northeast Minneapolis. Her favorite at Young Joni is the pickled pizzas. Her favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip and she has an eight-year-old black rescue dog named Cadence.
Anderson would like students to know that they are always welcome in her office, for whatever reason. She thinks that this kind of space needs to be made for students. She hopes that students feel welcome and comfortable as she steps into her new role this year. She says, “I welcome people into my office to come sit and talk or ask questions, or just have a space to relax. If my door is open, please feel free to come in.”
