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What’s in Your New Semester Toolkit?

Staff and faculty unveil supplies and mementos that comprise their semester toolkit

Every summer, around this time, Susan Wynn and her daughter visit Target and browse the back-to-school aisles. To Wynn, the chair of Duke’s Program in Education, the rows of new book bags, packs of color markers and notecards carry familiar memories of her days as a high school teacher and former principal of Lakewood Elementary School in Durham. “I cannot resist stocking up,” Wynn said. “There’s something ceremonial about that, the back-to-school shopping.”With the start of a new academic year, Wynn and other Duke staff and faculty have compiled their essentials for the year, from a favorite brand of pencil to thank-you cards from students. Here’s how three Duke staff and faculty will keep organized and focused during the fall semester:

Kathy PereiraAssociate professor, Duke School of Nursing 13 years at Duke

Kathy Pereira
Kathy Pereira

Travel mementos: As a representative of the School of Nursing, Pereira has visited Tanzania, Switzerland and China to discuss Duke’s nursing programs, and she likes having keepsakes that remind her of trips. In the above photo is a small statue from the Maasai tribe in northern Tanzania and an ornate business card box from Fudan University in China.Zazzle liquid highlighters: These are her preferred writing instruments when she’s grading or taking notes because she loves using bright colors to keep her attention and keep her organized.Family photos: Pereira likes to keep family photos in her office, including one of her 25-year-old son, Tom, and 28-year-old daughter, Kate, on their annual family beach trip to Duck, N.C.Student thank-you notes: Pereira has pinned dozens of thank-you cards from students on a board in her office. She has a U.S. Army Nurse Corps pin, which a student gave her as a thank-you present. “The pin, cards and other mementos remind me of why I’m here,” Pereira said.

Marc Maximov Continuing Education Coordinator, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke (CDS)3 years at Duke

Marc Maximov
Marc Maximov

Floor fan: Maximov bikes everywhere he needs to go, so this is his cool-down method at his desk.2-terabyte CDS hard drive: CDS, which is offering 40 classes this fall, ran nine weeklong intensives this summer that taught audio documentary work to nonfiction writing. Maximov is the keeper of student projects, name badges and all other organizational documents for these courses. “Everything that happens here gets put on this device,” he said. Clipboards and pencils: These are his favorite office supplies. He describes himself as a connoisseur of clipboards and mechanical pencils. He loves office supply store bulk sales on pencils.

Susan WynnChair, Duke Program in Education12 years at Duke

Susan Wynn
Susan Wynn

Weekly planner: Wynn carries around a print planner instead of an electronic calendar, a preference she’s had since she began teaching high school at 22 years old. “I can see and flip through, right at a glance, where I have blocks of time and how I can block my day,” she said. “There’s just something comforting about that.”Diet Mountain Dew: The drink gives her a daily morning caffeine boost. “The Courage to Teach”: She reads this book by Parker J. Palmer before every fall semester. The book discusses the importance of maintaining integrity while teaching, she said.Crayola markers and notecards: Wynn loves using bright supplies in her Duke Program in Education classes. One of her activities asks students to write down the qualities of a 21st-century teacher.