Teachers Join the Upper School

Sahana Mehta

Sahana is the Associate for Diversity, Equity and Belonging at Friends Seminary’s Center for Peace Equity and Justice. She enjoys getting to know students and learning what they are passionate about by teaching GoLead, a course dedicated to educating students on social issues and service learning, and project-based learning courses in the lower and middle school. As an alumna of Friends Seminary, Sahana is glad to be back at her alma mater, the place where she first became passionate about community service. 

Colleen Rober

Colleen is a Spanish teacher, ninth grade advisor, and a cross-country coach at Friends Seminary. Colleen grew up in Staten Island and has lived all over New York City. She taught Spanish at Xavier High School before coming to Friends, and immediately embraced the open communication between students and teachers upon her arrival. In addition to her passion for Spanish, which dates back to her very first high school Spanish class, Colleen also enjoys solving crossword puzzles in her free time. 

Brian Levels

Mr. Levels is a music teacher and ninth grade advisor at Friends Seminary. He teaches the upper school’s Chamber Players, along with multiple wind and string ensembles in the middle school. Mr. Levels credits music with shaping him into the person that he is today, and it has provided him with a myriad of opportunities, including traveling and performing on Broadway, and in the Grammy-nominated University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony. 

Annah Heckman

Annah is the Associate for Service Learning and Civic Engagement for CPEJ at Friends Seminary. She loves working at Friends because she not only gets to teach students, but also learn from them. Having graduated from Friends Seminary in 2015, Annah appreciates the opportunity to work alongside teachers and faculty that she grew up admiring. Annah attributes her passion for community service to a sense of being part of something bigger than herself. 

Elena Hartoonian

Elena teaches precalculus and works in the Academic Center, providing math support to students. Elena is passionate about math for many reasons, one reason being that once a mathematical statement is proven to be true, it is true forever. Since coming to Friends Seminary, she has become fond of Meeting for Worship. Elena was born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and has lived on three different continents since then, though she considers New York her home. Elena is also a new mother with an eleven-month-old daughter!