Ms. Krista Falcone, one of Dana Hall’s English teachers, has taken on a new role as the Communications Liaison for Athletics. With the start of the 2015 fall athletics season, Ms. Falcone has revamped the school’s Dana Dragon Instagram and Twitter pages and has encouraged spirit and support for all of Dana’s competitive athletic teams. Between leading group cheers at Homecoming Weekend and rooting on the Dana Hall athletes during their regular season games, there is no end to Ms. Falcone’s devotion to the school’s athletics program.

Attending many home and away games, Ms. Falcone posts on social media highlights of Dana athletes in action and live updates of game scores and plays. In the past, Ms. Falcone has coached or assisted coaching in several sports, including Varsity Field Hockey and Varsity Tennis. Although she is not coaching any competitive athletic teams this school year, Ms. Falcone has remained what she calls a “vocally supportive spectator,” cheering on athletes at many of the school’s athletic events.

Ms. Falcone’s goal for the 2015-2016 school year is “to promote the athletes and their accomplishments as well as the interest of the school body in supporting athletics.” Not only does she make daily posts to The Dana Dragon media pages, but she has started the school’s first ever Athlete of the Week program via mass emails to students, teachers, and faculty. The Athlete of the Week is selected by the coaches of the current season’s athletic teams to highlight one student who has really participated in the betterment of her team that week, both in games and practices. The athletes selected can be from any level team in the Upper School and tend to rotate between the different competitive sports.

Students have described Ms. Falcone — or simply “Falcone,” as she is referred to by many of her students and athletes — as the “best English teacher ever” and even as “the coolest woman on Earth.” Now in her fifth year at Dana Hall, Ms. Falcone teaches 10^th-, 11^th-, and 12^th-grade English courses in addition to her work with athletics. One student remarked that she “makes class really fun” and, out on the field, is “field hockey’s biggest supporter.”

Ms. Falcone, writing under “The Dana Dragon” on both Instagram and Twitter, encourages Dana Hall students to follow, like, or retweet posts made by the athletics’ social media accounts.

Photo credit: Dana Markmann.