Teaching chemistry can be very challenging. Imagine teaching it in a different language than your native one over 4,000 miles from your original home.

Malvern’s newest chemistry teacher is Dr. Agnese Abate. Abate is starting her first year as an Honors and AP Chemistry teacher at Malvern.

She is originally from Milan, Italy and is very excited to begin at Malvern.

Abate took the position as chemistry teacher because she wanted to teach students the scientific base to understand chemistry. “I taught at a university level for three years,” Abate said. “I realized that I wanted to start to shape students’ minds from a younger age. Many students lacked the basic materials needed to succeed in a college level class.”

Dr. Abate has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at Temple University. When she lived in Italy, she worked for a pharmaceutical company.

She is very excited to work at Malvern and she especially likes the strong sense of community. “Malvern connects people together, it is like a big family,” Abate said. “I feel it among the teachers and also among the students. I really appreciate the brotherhood I see every day at Malvern Prep.”

Abate likes hiking, swimming, and reading books either in Italian or in English. She is also the school coordinator for an Italian school for children in Philadelphia.

Abate loves teaching, but what she likes most is to see is results in what she teaches. “I like to see my students understand and appreciate chemistry,” she said. “That is the best feeling you can get while teaching.”