Making Connections at MAPP

This month in Philadelphia, two St. Markers were brought together by the scientific study of well-being. St. Mark’s History and Social Sciences teacher Colleen Finnerty ’11, who also serves as an assistant instructor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, was in the middle of class when she made an unexpected connection.

“In presenting to the students in my course, The Neuroscience of Character, I shared that I teach at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts,” said Finnerty. “And from the audience seats I heard a “Go, Lions!”” 

The cheer came from Stef Tousignant, St. Mark’s Class of 1998, who is currently a student in the UPenn program. Finnerty and Tousignant, who married a St. Marker and currently lives outside of San Francisco with her family, enjoyed meeting and chatting at length about their alma mater after class.

Finnerty received her MAPP from UPenn in 2022 and has been serving as an assistant instructor in the program for the past two years. As such, she collaborates with the professor and the rest of the teaching team to prepare course content, facilitate support calls for students, and grade and provide feedback on assessments. The program meets for an entire weekend once a month, alternating between the virtual world and in-person on UPenn's campus. 

At St. Mark’s, Finnerty ’11 is also the Sculley Elm house head and the head coach of the varsity field hockey team.