Faculty Flashback: Ken Conn fac u lt y m e m b e r f ro m 1 9 7 3 t o 2 0 0 9 i n t e rv i e w b y t o m g u d e n ’ 9 6
“The contact we have with the boys is the most important role we have as faculty.” Hired in 1973 by interim Headmaster Bill Chauncey, Ken is known by most alumni as a teacher of French, but he also taught history and English in his early years at RL. In 2004, he was named the inaugural Stanley Bernstein Professor of French. In addition to his brilliant work in the classroom, Ken effectively guided hundreds of boys as the Classmaster of Class II. He showed a special devotion to those boys who were experiencing tough times or who might not be noticed as easily. Ken also loved encouraging and molding students out on the athletic fields, acting as a junior lacrosse coach for most of his career and honing the skills of generations of RL linemen on the gridiron. Ken retired in 2009.
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Wi n t e r 2 0 2 1
You really understood RL boys. What would you say were their most appealing qualities? Comparing the typical RL boy at the start versus the end of your career, how were they different? What did they have in common? RL boys have always been our treasure and the abiding strength of our school. Those who work at RL know that their efforts as teachers, coaches, and advisors are rewarded by the chance to watch the kids grow and develop. For me, the one constant throughout the years was always the boys. Times have changed since the first year I spent at the school, but I believe that the changes are mostly superficial. Hair-dos, fashion, music, even slang are mutable aspects of our world. Our fluid, dangerous, and demanding time has forced us to redefine who we are and what we do. It has always been the challenge of the school to help the boys develop skills to cope with what they will meet beyond those brick walls. The boys are not homogenous. They come from many different backgrounds and cultures, which I feel is a great strength of the school, yet they are thrown together, and over the time they spend together become the unifying
