When you come home from a long day of school and start the ever-growing pile of homework on your desk, do you ever realize your economics teacher is rushing home to do the same thing?
Brianna Arsenault has taught in the Oyster River Cooperative School District (ORCSD) for three years, now at Oyster River High School (ORHS). She is currently teaching Personal Finance, Intro to Adobe, and Economics. She’s facing substantial changes from working with students at Moharimet and Oyster River Middle School, however she is handling it well as she also balances graduate school. Her views on teaching are shifting as she faces different age levels of students with different responsibilities and levels of engagement.
Arsenault is not only settling in at this new school, but she is also completing her Master of Education at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Teaching and simultaneously taking classes is something many would struggle to do. Arsenault’s ability to manage multiple responsibilities adds relatability to her students, who are also crushed with a large workload most nights. “She just says really relatable things, like ‘I stayed up until 12 o’clock writing this paper,’” says Mia Boyd (‘24), a senior in economics. Not only does she teach, she also connects with and understands the students.
Arsenault discovered her love for teaching during covid while working as a fourth grade classroom assistant in Raymond, NH. This job opportunity has led her down a teaching path to the ORCSD.
Even though Arsenault had spent the start of her teaching career with younger With this being her first year teaching at the high school, she has taken a lot of inspiration from her younger grade level classes and pulls material from them. “[The activities] make the class much more approachable, because econ can be a big, more mathematical space,” said Eliza Buck (‘24), a senior in Arsenault’s economics class.
Like her middle and elementary school classes, she sets the vibe by playing music and turning on her salt lamp. “I like to keep a chill environment,” said Arsenault. While the subjects in high school economics don’t translate to the classes for younger grades, she uses similar get to know you activities and tricks to keep the class quiet.
High schoolers need more to engage them, whereas younger students fully enjoyed what was being taught. “Those kids are still excited about life.” Arsenault says.
One of Arsenault’s changes has been dealing with distractions, since her younger students don’t have the same addictive struggles with their phones. “You have to be very, very engaging to get [the students] off their phones,” says Arsenault. The exciting activities work to keep students engaged, and she continues to find more ways to keep the classroom an intriguing space.
“I really like being creative,” said Arsenault. Instead of just sitting at a desk, she has students walk around the classroom and converse, and uses whiteboards to encourage more participation. When a student answers in class, Arsenault passes out a “business buck” as a form of extra credit.
“It’s been interesting to see how she has changed so much as a teacher from the beginning of the year to now,” said Boyd. Many of Arsenault’s students have already seen some differences in her teaching style as she adapts to teaching high schoolers. Boyd notices that Arsenault has started to become more assertive, not letting the highschoolers get away with as many things and becoming more confident in her teaching.
Adam Lacasse, another economics teacher and the mentor of Arsenault, describes her as “highly motivated, which you can’t really teach people.” He goes on to say that Arsenault is ambitious, smart, and funny, and that he is beyond excited to get to work with her. As her mentor, Lacasse is responsible for helping her settle into the economics world at ORHS.
Lacasse meets with Arsenault frequently to see how she is doing with her classes and to answer any questions she may have. “If I need help with something I can go to him… I know that he is willing to help,” says Arsenault.
“I’m actually really looking forward to seeing what she comes up with,” said Lacasse. During the second semester, Arsenault will teach another class of economics, along with marketing and Adobe. Lacasse is confident that their relationship will become less of a mentorship and more of a combined team, as they will be able to collaborate on many things. Right now, he is making sure she is comfortable at ORHS and adapting well.
The positive reviews for Arsenault don’t come just from her mentor. Her students have nothing to say other than compliments. “She has a very positive energy; she brings a positive vibe to the school,” shared Buck.
Sydney Haines (‘25), is taking Arsenault’s economics class and said that “I look forward to the class” even though she doesn’t enjoy the subject itself. Arsenault transforms the class into something exciting for everyone
Arsenault could have directed her career to the business world, but she’s loving her time at ORHS. For the near future, she says that “this is the plan.”
– Rose Goldsmith
Mouth of the River 
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