18 minute read
New teacher introductions
Page 7 the index · features tell a Haverford student who is resistant to The group would argue that it is not trying the message of the Diversity Alliance. “I would just say put yourselves in a person of color’s shoes. And just think what I would just say put yourselves in a person to undermine Haverford with their “safe spaces” and “affinity groups”; they are simply trying to make Haverford a better place than daily life must be like for them. sNot even of color’s shoes. And it currently is. inside school, but outside school with corojust think what daily The members of the Diversity Alliance are navirus,” Deng said. “I’d say just the borderline if not completely hateful rhetoric that is so prevalent in the media today.” life must be like for them. new leaders in a long line of civil rights activists who have called out injustice and worked to improve their community—whether it be Some members of the Haverford comtheir school or their country. munity may find the Diversity Alliance’s BOWEN DENG ’22 James Baldwin, an icon of the civil rights outspoken criticism of the school offensive. movement, captured the benevolence beMr. Foust joins as a game boss
Jeffrey Yang ’22 “V ideo game boss” is not a metaphor that usually comes to mind when thinking about teachers, but Mr. LaJuan Foust embraces the character in his classes. This year, the history department welcomes Mr. Foust, who will teach Ancient and Modern World History. Mr. Foust joins the community after eight years of experience at several institutions, with roles as a current event and public speaking teacher at the Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts; an adjunct profesQuinn Luong ’22 ford’s Class of 2015 to having an affinity for the art of storytelling, Mr. Louie Brown returns to his alma mater with a passionate backstory that he hopes will give the students in his history and English classes the best experience possible. Mr. Brown has worked with students for most of his career, whether that be in the classroom or at summer camp. After attending Haverford since pre-kindergarten, Mr. Brown returns to campus excited to emit the same amount of enthusiasm he received from his own teachers. “By the time I reached the upper school, I made some strong relationships with my closest teachers at Haverford,” Mr. Brown said. “I had great role models who invigorated the zeal that I want to likewise translate to my students now.” Mr. Brown worked as a teaching assistant at various schools. These schools ranged from schools in Boston to even Mr. Stambaugh’s English IV class. Not far into his time as a teaching assistant, he felt a connection to Haverford and knew his fate was teaching here. “The most exciting thing for me is to
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MR. LAJUAN FOUST
sor in the Communications Department at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Massachusetts; and an Ancient World History teacher at Delbarton High School in Morristown, New Jersey. His five years of teaching Ancient World History has made adjusting to Haverford less difficult. Mr. Foust is excited to expand his knowledge in preparation for Modern World History. “There are definitely some areas that I like to nerd out about that I haven’t had a chance to; so that will be fun,” he said. be back in a community of young students apart of a wide variety of different skill sets,” Mr. Brown said. “When I was a student at Haverford, you can tell the community is exceptionally good at recognizing each individual student’s talents.”
The most exciting thing for me is to be back in a community of young students apart of a wide variety of different skill sets ...
MR. LOUIE BROWN Mr. Brown cannot wait to begin working with students, not only in their schoolwork, but also in helping them decide their careers and futures. “As we grow up, we transition and live different lives in what seems like parallel universes,” Mr. Brown said. “It is rewarding to Mr. Foust’s love for teaching sparked from a mishap in high school. Similar to Haverford, Mr. Foust’s high school—University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio—required students to complete a “senior project” prior to graduation. When his project fell through at the last moment, Mr. Foust decided to tag onto his friend’s work as a tutor at a local elementary school. He recalled saying, “Hey, can I just jump on the horse? I’m desperate,” and his friend replied, “Yeah, that’s fine.” Mr. Foust continued, “So that was my senior project, and I actually enjoyed it a little bit. It was really fun.” Upon graduating high school, he continued to teach as he joined the REACH program facilitated by his high school—a summer enrichment program for gifted African Americans around the Cleveland Public School System. As a member of the college faculty, comprised of college students, Mr. Foust had the opportunity to listen in on classes taught by mentor teachers in the morning and to teach his own class in the afternoon. He enjoyed his experience so much that he continued with the program for many subsequent years. “That was really where the teaching bug started,” Mr. Foust said. “I would say my whole trajectory came to this point because of that REACH program.” Outside of teaching in the History Department, Mr. Foust will coach the Speech and Debate team with Mr. Javier Lluch. He will also coach the Third Form Soccer team. Mr. Foust was drawn to Haverford by the faculty’s genuine care for the students that he observed when he visited and conversed with other teachers. “I just definitely got a vibe that there is this desire to care about the guys in a way that’s more than just, ‘Oh, he’s just a kid.’ We’re trying to create young men who are going to actually do something in the world
Mr. Brown returns to his roots and do something of value.” educate the you th, as they are the ones shaping the world as we know it.” While he faces the challenge of teaching both history and English classes, he is passionate about the interconnectedness of both subjects. “There is so much emotion and individuality in literature, whereas history complements the facts, data, and timelines to give a greater understanding of how life began,” Mr. Brown said.
September 2020 hind activists’ criticisms when he wrote in Notes of a Native Son, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
Contact Mr. Jobs to join Diversity
Alliance
Mr. Foust also appreciated the school’s faculty diversity, not solely in terms of race but in terms of passions and ideologies as well. Mr. Foust said, “We’re all so different, but at the same time we have the same goal. That’s something that I really value: if we’re on a team we want to have the same goal. We don’t want to have to deal with folks that are trying to do their own thing—that’s more detrimental than good. So I’m really excited to be working with the faculty.” Mr. Foust said, “I have a reputation for being very difficult, but at the same time, sophomore teachers are usually happy when they know that kids had me because they know certain things. So I take a lot of pride in that.” He has a simple teaching motto for his students, “do work.” In school, which he describes as a video game, Mr. Foust believes that the work one puts in during the early levels accumulates to help one through the final stages.
... you need the XP for when you go to the next boss because ... you’re going to need every single bit of that—and then some.”
MR. LAJUAN LAFOUST
“It’s one of those games where you figure certain things out to beat that early level boss,” Mr. Foust said, “but you’re going to need those same ideas and things and tools that you picked up, and you need the XP for when you go to the next boss because, when you get to the next boss, you’re going to need
From being a “superlifer” of Haver
Mr. Louie Brown holding kale plants he grew in New Zealand
every single bit of that—and then some.” RHIANNON WALKER While he may be six feet apart from his students, he acknowledges that in these times, we have to be empathetic towards one another. “Especially during tough challenges right now,” Mr. Brown said, “we need to prove ourselves and to our community that we care about each other’s presence and thoughts.”
Dr. Del Rosario hopes to enlarge perspectives Mitav Nayak ’22
After spending the last seven years completing his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, Hawaiinative Dr. Micah Del Rosario will join the teaching Austin Zhuang ’22 Born in Long Island, New York, Mr. Belson moved to the Philadelphia suburbs at a young age. Attending Strath Haven High School in Swarthmore, he received his undergraduate degree from Saint Joseph’s University before beginning his seven-year tenure at Marple Newtown High School. Mr. Belson has never doubted becoming a teacher. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher from a young age. I think for me it was, what job,
This will be my eighth year teaching, and I still get excited every morning. I’m up at five o’clock every day rip-roaring to go. MR. KEITH BELSON upper school as an English teacher this fall. He is excited to teach both Fourth and Fifth Formers this year and, if circumstances permit, coach JV tennis in the spring. and helping guide them and sharing some passions of mine really was a noble cause.” He begins his first year at Haverford teaching English I. “What I’ve been hearing from most [teachers] is that classrooms at Haverford are a bit more engaged, and I think that’s something the all-boys model promotes,” Mr. Belson said. “It sends this idea that we’re here for one thing: to learn.” He also believes that smaller class sizes will benefit his method of teaching. “One thing that I really pride myself on is getting to know each of my students on a personal level, to really help guide and focus their education on what they need.” Mr. Belson said. “It’s something that really excites: tailoring each day, each lesson to each of my students. While his main focus is on the students he will be teaching, he also thinks that the community will better himself as well. “Another thing that I am really excited about is my colleagues, the other teachers that I’m starting to get to know through new teacher orientation and the opening faculty meetings,” Mr. Belson remarked. “Getting to work with such prestigious teachers, people who have been doing it for a long time, provides me an opportunity to grow as an educator.” Outside of teaching, Mr. Belson continues to pursue his literary interests.
COURTESY OF DR. MICAH DEL ROSARIO Dr. Del Rosario recently discovered his enjoyment teaching while working toward his doctorate.
DR. MICAH DEL ROSARIO
“Part of the program is teaching undergraduates at the college as a graduate student,” Dr. Del Rosario said. “I enjoyed that part of being a graduate student more than I enjoyed the academic research part, so I wanted to pursue a teaching job.” A lifer at a private, independent, K-12 school in Hawaii, Dr. Del Rosario hails from an environment similar to Haverford’s. “I know that a private independent school is fortunate to be able to have a tight-knit community and a set of common values, and that’s a great environment to be both a student and teacher,” Dr. Del Rosario said. “I’ve already heard from so many faculty that the students here are great, and for anyone who is a teacher that is the most important thing. It makes our lives easier and it makes our job more fun and exciting.” “I love to write, and it’s something I still do when I have spare time, working on projects like short stories, novels, things like that.” His passion for education and teaching has become an irreplaceable part of his life. “[Teaching] does not feel like work,” Mr. Belson said. “This will be my eighth year While Dr. Del Rosario is familiar with independent schools, he faces a new challenge at Haverford: teaching in an all-boys environment. “I think we’re in a world where we need to have great men and be thinking about what it means to be men and masculinity. Teaching at an all-boys school is a great place to be able to broaden people’s horizons and be a good role model,” Dr. Del Rosario said. Although he recently discovered his enjoyment of teaching, Dr. Del Rosario has always had a passion for English. “Reading literature, discussing literature, and writing are great ways to teach people very important life skills,” Dr. Del Rosario said. “Partly, something like how to write, but I also mean things like the ability to think about culture and society and all parts of your life that are not necessarily objective.” He added, “We’re dealing with stories about people and history and relationships and there are gray areas to it. It’s complicated and messy and you have to be able to think and deal with problems that don’t necessarily have an objective, correct answer, and that’s going to happen in life all the time.” Through his class, Dr. Del Rosario hopes to support students as they consider these complex ideas. “Every time we’re sitting down to discuss a book and listening to someone else’s interpretation of something,” Dr. Del Rosario said, “we’re thinking: ‘how does that inform or change my perspective?’ It teaches us really great skills that you need to be a human
Calling all aspiring writers Look out for an email to join the next meeting
Mr. Keith Belson excited to share his calling to English
Philadelphia local Mr. Keith Belson joins the English department with high hopes.
Mr. Keith Belson (right) with friends at the 32-mile Spartan Ultra in Breckenridge Colorado, August 2018
being in the world.”
COURTESY OF MR. KEITH BELSON teaching, and I still get excited every morning. I’m up at five o’clock every day rip-roaring to go and speak with young people and get them thinking about things in different ways. It’s the reason I’m teaching today.”
Ms. Yi Lee, innovating Chinese instruction Agustin Aliaga ’21
This year, Chinese classes will look Lee said. “It’s very interactive and fun.” a little bit different: Ms. Yi Lee, or 李老师, as she will be known Ms. Lee has had other teaching experiences at the University of Colorado’s STARin the classroom, will join us all the way TALK program, where she taught “Chinese from Hawaii, where she was chair of the Language Instruction in the Digital Age.” World Languages Department at Henry J. In addition to her teaching career, Ms. Lee Kaiser High School in Honolulu, an Interis also an entrepreneur. national Baccalaureate (IB) World School. “I started a Facebook Page called ‘Yi Lee’s Ms. Lee will continue to instruct Chinese Mandarin Teaching Center’ back in 2012,” levels I through IV. She also received her said Ms. Lee. “I used that platform to share degree in Secondary Education in Hawaii my teaching strategies and my PPT curricufrom the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. lum. I have over two thousand teacher fol Coming from an IB school, Ms. Lee says lowers, and hundreds of teachers all around she has high expectations for her students. the globe are using the materials I created to But Chinese students should not worry if teach Chinese.” they put in the hours. “When it comes to Outside of the classroom, Ms. Lee loves ‘grades’—it’s more about one’s effort since I watching movies, playing video games on offer extra credits and opportunities to corboth PS4 and Nintendo Switch, and reading rect one’s work,” Ms. Lee said. “I was a very manga every day. Ms. Lee hopes to take these grade-conscious student back in the day, so hobbies to one of Haverford’s video games I can relate.” clubs. As far as teaching style, Ms. Lee says she Additionally, Ms. Lee enjoys singing and has always taught with an alternative use of may look to help out with vocal programs. Powerpoint: “I always teach with PPT, but Either way, Ms. Lee is ready to get started. definitely not in the traditional way,” Ms.
Matthew Schwartz ’21 teacher Mr. Anwar Akkari is eager to step into his new role and hopefully learn as much from the students as they will learn from him. Growing up in Tunisia, Mr. Akkari tested into and attended a prestigious boarding high school where he first gained experience in teaching. He tutored his fellow students in a variety of subjects including math, physics, chemistry, and language. Once at Yale, his urge to help more students learn stuck with him, as he worked as a teaching assistant for those learning Arabic. Additionally, he served as a peer tutor in math, meaning he helped fellow students in his classes learn and prepare for class. At Haverford, Mr. Akkari will teach pre-calculus and geometry.
Ms. Stephanie Kantor eager to complement extraordinary art facilities
COURTESY OF MS. STEPHANIE KANTOR “One of the biggest things I’m excited about is the experience of becoming a professional and teaching my own class. Based on my early meetings and orientation, I feel like the environment is very supportive and welcoming. It’s a great group of people where everybody is trying to help, everybody is reaching out and that’s something I love. Even though I’m still a new teacher, I’ve fallen in love with the environment and the culture, and I feel like it’s going to be a great year,” Mr. Akkari said. He is not afraid to learn and adjust to his student’s needs. “I’m working around teachers who are more experienced in preparing material for their classrooms, so I’m learning from them and creating modules for my students,” Mr. Akkari said. “We’ll see how it works out and then based on student feedback I will be able Ryan Rodack ’22
One of the many new faces joining the upper school faculty this year is art teacher Ms. Stephanie Kantor. Ms. Kantor completed her undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University, where she received a degree in art education and ceramics. Four years later, she went on to add a Masters in Fine Arts to her resume from the University of Colorado Boulder. Throughout her early arts career, Ms. Kantor developed her craft by participating in artist residencies. “That is basically when you go to a program and they give you studio space in exchange for work or community programming,” Ms. Kantor said. “So I was involved in a lot of artist communities, and I would often teach classes there.” Ms. Kantor’s passion for art and ceramics led her to explore part-time teaching jobs after she earned her masters. “I started teaching college, so I would teach ceramics, foundations, painting, drawing, so I’ve been jumping around to different colleges doing that,” Ms. Kantor said. Although she enjoyed her time teaching various forms of art at different colleges, Ms. to work on the rest.” Yale physics professor Dr. Adriane Steinacker serves as an inspiration for how Mr. Akkari wants to conduct himself. “She would stay late in office hours,” Mr. Akkari said. “Time and time again she would talk to every student, connecting with her students and helping them finish their homework or prepare for a midterm.” Teaching at an all-boys school is something that does not worry Mr. Akkari, as he says he has an understanding of what goes on, relying on his experience at the boarding school, where all the dorms were separated by boys and girls. Having just moved to Philadelphia this summer, Mr. Akkari is still getting acquainted with his surroundings but is eager and excited to help students learn during a unique and unprecedented year. COURTESY OF MS. YI LEE Kantor was ready for a change. Ms. Kantor said, “I wanted to work at Haverford to have more of a full-time teaching job… I wanted something more consistent that I could make an impact on.” While Ms. Kantor had many options when applying to become a full-time teacher, there were several reasons she chose Haverford as opposed to other local schools. “What we have here is quite on par with a lot of college facilities,” Ms. Kantor said. “The laser cutter, the CNC, the woodshop, the ceramics studio, and everything we have available is really exciting for me and made this a place I wanted to be a part of.” Besides her role in the art studio, Ms. Kantor also has other interests that she hopes to share with the community. “I am going to be an assistant coach for varsity tennis, so I’m excited to join the team for that,” Ms. Kantor said. “I’m a beginner surfer, so that is something I’m interested in… I’m into gardening, being outside, riding my bike, doing stuff like that, but I would say that art is my main interest.” Ms. Kantor said, “I’m really excited to be a part of Haverford and hope people make
Mr. Anwar Akkari excited to join math department
Fresh off of his graduation from Yale University with a major in mechanical engineering, new math amazing art work!”
