Nancy Gablein – Scholarship Recipient Brings Leadership Skills to the Classroom
A determined young leader, Nancy Gablein had already decided what career she hoped to pursue while still a student at Hatboro-Horsham High School.
The Hatboro-Horsham class of 2019 graduate received an Edward Taylor Coombs Foundation scholarship in her senior year. Earlier that year, Nancy had interned as a first-grade teacher at Simmons Elementary School, further cementing her plans to become a teacher.
“I never knew what I wanted to do with my life until one day I was babysitting my neighbor,” Nancy recalled. “I helped her with multiplication and saw she had the lightbulb moment. She just understood multiplication. I thought, ‘How many more students can I impact?’”
During her senior year of high school, Nancy went every other day to the first-grade classroom as part of her internship.
While she was committed to being a teacher, Nancy was unsure of what age group or area to specialize in until her college career unfolded at Gwynedd Mercy University. After working with special needs high school students as part of her studies, Nancy had her own lightbulb moment when she realized that this was her calling.
“I really took for granted everything I was able to do, just daily life skills,” she said. “It was a very eye-opening experience.”
Nancy graduated from Gwynedd Mercy in spring 2023 with an early special education degree. Her Pennsylvania teaching certification allows her to teach pre-K through fourth-grade, or special education students in kindergarten- through 12th-grade.
Making an impact
Nancy began her first year of teaching in the 2023-2024 school year at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Doylestown, P
ennsylvania. As a learning support teacher Nancy assists about 16 special needs students in third- through eighth grades. Some she guides with projects, while others she helps with homework or classwork and some others she pulls out of their classrooms for alternative testing.
“I get to know each student individually,” Nancy said. “It all comes down to getting to know the student personally and what type of learner they are.”
No two students – or their challenges – are the same. Most have ADHD, but each child’s educational needs vary.
“I didn’t walk into this with a certain mindset because I never did any student teaching experience with learning support,” she said. “I’m learning as I’m going.”
How the scholarship helped
Receiving the ETC Foundation scholarship opened the door for financial aid opportunities at Gwynedd Mercy.
“It’s such an honor to be a recipient,” Nancy said of the ETC Foundation award. “Sharing the story of Eddie is amazing.”
Like other scholarship award recipients, Nancy understands the importance of the namesake’s legacy and keeping his memory alive through financially supporting and empowering future leaders.
Finding a teaching home
During her senior year at Gwynedd Mercy, Nancy knew she wanted to teach at a Catholic school. After an advisor shared her teaching goals with a connection, Nancy received multiple emails with various teaching openings within a 30-minute drive from her suburban Philadelphia home.
“The ball was kind of in my court,” she said. “I would talk to them in the interview, see how that went, visit the schools and see if I felt a connection with any of them.”
Her visit to Our Lady Mount Carmel sealed the deal.
“I could really tell they were a close-knit community,” she said, referencing teacher collaboration among school fundraisers, events and tests as noted in a hallway calendar. “No matter who I talked to locally everyone always had good things to say.”
As a teacher herself, Nancy enjoys the opportunity to make a difference in the classroom.
“It’s such an amazing job. You get to impact so many people’s lives,” she said. “People should be open-minded about the education field. Schools need more supportive, caring, patient people out there.”
