“Cushing Character” Retires A Quintessential

SUPER SCIENCE TEACHER DAVID BENNETT KNOWN FOR 26 YEARS OF WRY HUMOR

David Bennett P’09, ’13, had had enough. The longtime Cushing science teacher had been at the Academy for about a decade when he stood up for the first time to make an announcement in assembly. Several students — using trays swiped from the cafeteria as sleds — had close calls, veering right in front of his big station wagon as he navigated down School Street. He felt it was time to make a public service announcement. And what he said was classically David Bennett:

“I announced that students should not become hood ornaments,” Bennett remembers.

That dr y, witty sense of humor was what made Mr. Bennett — and his announcements — legendary at Cushing. Bennett retired last spring after 26 years at Cushing, having impacted countless students. In recognition of this, he was named an honorary member of the Class of ’22 at graduation.

He first arrived here in 1996. At the time, he was working in electronics and he and his wife had two young children. “My wife (Lyn) put an arm around me and said, ‘You’ve got to get a real job,’” Bennett remembers.

Cushing had an opening for a science teacher. Bennett had a bachelor’s degree in biology from Syracuse University, making it ideal. Plus, Cushing fit him culturally. “I was privately schooled from nursery school,” recalls Bennett, who graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1974.

Bennett taught all kinds of science, from biology to marine science to conceptual physics and engineering. He also coached tennis and crosscountry. “As I told all my students, it’s the first place that I would wake up in the morning and I actually wanted to go to work, so I enjoyed it from that aspect,” Bennett recalls.

His gif t was making sometimes dull assemblies a little more lively. “I did it for...oh, I don’t know, probably until about five years ago, and then I stopped. I’d get up to make an announcement and all the students would whip their phones out. I thought, really, I was gonna become an internet embarrassment. I just felt that what happened in Cushing, stayed in Cushing.”

“Dave’s contributions in and out of the classroom were truly inspiring and impactful. His humor, wit, and passion for teaching were embedded in every class he taught and assembly announcement he made,” says Kurt Kublbeck, a former colleague and now the chair of Cushing’s science department.

For Bennett, as with many students, getting up to speak reflected the fact that at Cushing he found his voice. “I found that getting on stage didn’t bother me, whereas probably if I’d done it in my 20s, it would have,” he says. I did a stint in one of the musicals because you don’t say no to [Performing Arts Chair] Julia [Ohm]. “She said, ‘I have a part for you’ and I thought: Here we go. But it turned out fine. That’s a pleasant memory.”

Some other favorite moments were setting up biology labs — “I’ve always been a lab person” — and lingering with friends in his department in the dining room during free periods.

Bennett will remember Cushing as a place where people tried to answer your questions and where there is a great sense of camaraderie. Penguin Nation includes his two children, Vera ’09 and Chris ’13.

As he prepared to retire, Bennett made one final, very public announcement — starring in a video as he climbed the clock tower and encouraged the community to give to the school.

Bennett not only traversed multiple harrowing flights of open stairs, but he ad-libbed as he went. “I’ve reached the clock level,” he said, glancing at the timepiece. “Ten minutes fast. That’s about appropriate.” A line delivered with a hint of snark in his voice.

At the end, he tried his hand at ringing the bell and then looked stunned as the sound echoed in the small brick tower chamber: “Wow. It’s a lot louder than I thought it would be.”

Generations of Penguins went wild, posting their responses on social media:

“ Whoever came up with this idea and decided to mic Mr. Bennett as he climbed the clock tower deserves a raise!!!” wrote Jillian Rose Wessel ’07.

“Love this! Will never forget Mr. Bennett! And how does he look the exact same after 14 years?! Thanks for sharing,” wrote Kendall Swenson Garifo ’10.

Shawn Clark ’15 may have gotten it just right: “One of the all time great characters of Cushing.”

Enjoy retirement, Dave. And be sure to drop by every once in a while to make us laugh again.