100 Years of Teaching Excellence at Tower Hill School

100 YEARS of Teaching Excellence at

Tower Hill School

100 Years of Teaching Excellence at Tower Hill School 1919-2019

Tower Hill School Association 2813 West 17th Street Wilmington, Delaware 19806 2019 by Tower Hill School Association.

All rights reserved. Published 2019.

Printed in the United States of America.

OF TEACHING EXCELLENCE

This book is dedicated in loving memory of Ernie Savage, beloved teacher and administrator at Tower Hill School from 1956 to 1986.

Mr. Savage is best remembered for his enthusiastic, interactive and humorous style of teaching, paired with great warmth and dedication to his profession. His intense interest in the lives of his students is emblematic of the many great teachers we are blessed to have now, and have had over the generations, at Tower Hill School.

—The Casscells Family

Sara ’05, Chris ’02 and Nick ’04 Casscells at Tree Trim with their parents, Chris Casscells, M.D. ’71 and Susan Casscells, and their cousin, Lucy McMurry ’09.

Faculty member Julia Jones, first row second from left, pictured with members of the ninth grade class in 1944.

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION In Celebration of Great Teachers at Tower Hill CHAPTER 1 In the Beginning CHAPTER 2 Lower School CHAPTER 3 Middle School CHAPTER 4 Upper School CHAPTER 5 The Arts CHAPTER 6 Coaches CHAPTER 7 Teacher-Administrators

Contributors Harry N. Baetjer III — HNB Ellis Wasson, Ph.D. — EAW Wiz Montaigne Applegate ’79 — WMA William Chase — WGC Irénée du Pont, Jr. ’38 — ID Chuck Durante ’69 — CD Meredith Keller Giacco ’99 — MKG Deb Kaiser — DAK John Newlin — JN Tucker Pierson ’93 — TP Jack Smith — JS Mary Elizabeth Snyder ’07 — MES Jim Wood — JW

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From the Head of School Celebrating a 100th anniversary is a seminal moment for any institution. For Tower Hill, this landmark provides a remarkable opportunity to reflect on defining successes while also imagining a bold future.

Tower Hill’s Centennial Committee determined that a special publication should mark the occasion, complementing the comprehensive school history documented in Forever Green: A Commemorative History of Tower Hill School for the school’s 75th anniversary. After some discussion, consensus emerged as to the subject of this book: our faculty.

Teachers are the backbone of Tower Hill, carrying out the school’s mission each day with academic rigor, compassion and good humor. Conversation with alumni almost always includes fond memories or anecdotes about teachers who positively influenced their educational experience. Teachers are the caretakers of hope and promise, and they make a difference in all of our lives.

We are deeply indebted to Ellis A. Wasson, Ph.D., and Harry N. Baetjer III for spearheading this project.

They reviewed a list of every single teacher who ever worked at Tower Hill for consideration in these pages. Their task for selection was not to identify the

“best” teachers, but rather, to compile a representative sample of the hundreds of wonderful teachers who have worked at Tower Hill over the course of a century. They conducted interviews and scoured the archives to write the majority of the biographies included here, and their leadership on this project is deeply appreciated. Thank you to Ellis and Harry, all of the contributing writers noted on the opposite page and Teresa Messmore, Amy Wolf and Kirk Smith in the Communications Office for editing, layout and photo research.

Thank you to the Casscells Family for their generous philanthropic support of this book. They have given Tower Hill an instant heirloom in honor of our Centennial.

Most of all, thank you to all of our faculty members— past, present and future—for your dedication to this wonderful school. Your impact on the lives of Tower Hill students over the past century is truly inspiring.

Elizabeth C. Speers Head of School Tower Hill School

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In Celebration of Great Teachers at Tower Hill It was impossible to include information about all the teachers who have worked at Tower Hill in this volume. The overwhelming majority of them were and are exceptional. That is what has made the school great. Our space and resources had limits, so we were obliged to choose a representative sample. We consulted the school archives, alumni and past administrators. To those alumni who are disappointed that their favorite teachers have not been included, we apologize. We encourage you to send tributes to favorite teachers to the school, which will be shared through various channels. We hope that the brief biographies included here will represent what has been a remarkable story—a narrative that we expect to continue for at least another hundred years!

We also wish to note that many members of the staff in non-teaching positions (including headmasters, but also trainers, maintenance workers, administrative assistants, nurses, dining room staff, trustees, admissions, development, etc.) have been

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great guides to students and/or contributed in remarkable ways to the success of the school. Few people ever associated with Tower Hill have been so beloved as Jimmy Lee (1930-1956), who ran the Maintenance Department.

One of the things that make the biographies we publish in this celebration of 100 years of teaching at Tower Hill remarkable is the continuity over the century of qualities demonstrated by members of the faculty. It is not, perhaps, unreasonable to assume that these characteristics are what have made the school special and explain why it is so respected and deeply loved. Not all great teachers are the same, but they tend to share many common traits. That also makes using a representative selection, and not the whole list of faculty, an effective means to capture the spirit of the school.

What are those common characteristics, which you will notice as you read through these biographies?

The most important qualities are devotedness,

dedication to the welfare of students, willing service to the goals of the institution, giving of love and devotion to the work of helping young people to grow into the best people they can be. Again and again, one reads about how hard these teachers worked and how much of themselves they gave to the school and their students.

mastering math or Latin or field hockey is important and worthy of their time and effort. Teachers should have no fear of being replaced by robots; it is the social interaction between teacher and student that makes learning and personal growth possible.

Great teachers create relationships that maximize educational achievement.

Great teachers, above all else, respect their students, those unguided missiles full of bewilderment, lack of confidence and impulsive behavior. These charges cannot necessarily be treated with kid gloves. They should not be given a false sense of reality about their weaknesses. But if they understand that the teacher cares about their welfare, respect and affection will be returned in abundance. Repeatedly we read here about students coming by a teacher’s room or engaging with a coach just to chat or to share a problem, even if the teacher is no longer in charge of their progress.

Great teachers care about the whole student, not just their own subject. Interaction between students and teachers who have never even had the child in one of their classes is common at Tower Hill. Teachers constantly care about students, beyond how they may be doing in Mandarin or woodshop. They care about what sort of person a student is becoming or how their community service project is going.

Great teachers share their own weaknesses, foibles and stories about setbacks with students. Teachers are not aloof Olympians laying down the law but, at their best, are seen by students as human and even lovable.

Recent research has shown that it is our emotions that direct our attention and make things seem important.

As David Brooks wrote recently, “Children learn from people they love.�1 Great teachers carry their students along with passion for their discipline and excitement about the process of learning. It is not the ability to explain a subject that is crucial, rather it is convincing a student that

A great teacher does not have to be a comedian, although all of them in one way or another are superb communicators and listeners. It is remarkable how often alumni begin reminiscences about one of their most beloved teachers with laughter and share an anecdote that is full of humor and smiles. Not every minute of school life is fun, and much hard work involves grunts and groans as well as sweat. Yet laughter is everywhere, and great teachers are never afraid to appear ridiculous.

It is no accident that many great teachers are also great coaches. We see this over and over in these biographies. The qualities of a great coach, the ability to motivate and inspire students while providing them with skilled guidance and moral values, work equally well in academic settings. The more teachers

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can stand at the sidelines shouting encouragement while the student kicks the ball down the field the better. Tower Hill’s tradition of intertwining teaching and coaching not only enables teachers and students to interact in a variety of settings, but also it hones the skills of teachers on how best to encourage learning across the curriculum.

With that, may the individuals described in this book and all former Tower Hill teachers inspire gratitude in alumni, excellence in current and future teachers, and appreciation in all of us for those who influenced us personally during our own educational journeys.

Ellis A. Wasson, Ph.D. Archivist and Former History Department Chair

The influence of a great teacher can be almost limitless. Kids watch faculty members like hawks and incorporate what they see into their minds and characters. Even casual comments or actions provide lessons in academic expertise and how to be a worthy and wise person.

In the end what teachers give students is themselves.

They give knowledge, affection, respect and counsel.

Often the most effective way to teach about values and being an adult is simply acting in a decent and honorable way. By being generous, fair, friendly, respectful, honest, well-mannered and willing to admit faults, they establish a pathway to their students’ hearts, influencing their citizenship in the world.

We know that the quality of teaching described in this book will continue into the future. However, other things must change. By the time we celebrate the bicentennial of the school, full gender equality should have long since been achieved. The racial, religious and ethnic diversity of the faculty must become broader, deeper and richer, as indeed it is becoming.

May this change take place sooner rather than later.

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(David Brooks, “Students Learn from People They Love,” The New York Times, Jan. 18, 2019, A23)

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CHAPTER 1 In the Beginning

Alma Dunbar in 1952 with students James Straub, Jr., Eva Wise, John Newell, Josh Marvel and Chrissie Scott.

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Alma Dunbar

Years Taught:1919-1953

Miss Alma Dunbar wore her hair in a distinctive way.

It was dark, slightly streaked with gray, and there was lots of it, smoothly towering in a hairnet, never a wisp out of place. It made her taller than life, rather like the bearskin of a Buckingham Palace Guard. She had a trim figure, pointed nose and piercing black eyes. If you were not telling the truth, those X-ray eyes went right into your soul. Then you knew, that she knew, that the truth was not in you. Although she wielded discipline, she was always fair, never raised her voice, and at times, she even found things to make the class laugh.

bunch and had learned to hide in the weeds when any of them came in sight.

Before Tower Hill School started, Miss Dunbar had been operating a kindergarten at the Greenhill Presbyterian Church. When Tower Hill was organized, the school took up temporary quarters in that same church and sort of absorbed the Dunbar kindergarten. She moved with it to the new school building at 17th Street and Tower Road. Miss Dunbar, therefore, had more seniority than the first faculty members hired by the school. Miss Dunbar ran the Tower Hill kindergarten until the fall of 1928, when her disciplinary skills were needed elsewhere.

When our class met Miss Dunbar in fifth grade, she assigned homework on a regular basis, a new experience for us. She insisted that we complete all homework assignments, and on time. For the first month, each morning the whole class had to write on her tablet the number of minutes we spent preparing our homework in each subject. I lied a lot. Each time she quizzed me with those piercing eyes, I burst into tears. It finally sunk in that lying is a very poor policy.

There were three unruly students in the class that became fourth graders that year. I know, because I was in third grade immediately behind that rowdy

A new teacher to Tower Hill was assigned to fourth grade with the unrulies. She collapsed under the strain. Miss Dunbar remembered the bad boys from kindergarten and must have volunteered to fix the problem. Surely, with her seniority, the administration would not have pressed her to take on this awesome fourth grade task. She succeeded, and the next year Headmaster Burton P. Fowler “promoted” her with her unruly charges to fifth grade.

In 2004, during a friend’s burial service at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church, I found myself standing at a headstone that showed neither birth nor death dates. The name was “Alma Dunbar.”

—ID ’38

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Martha Sachs

Years Taught:1920-1933

Martha Sachs was hired by Tower Hill’s first headmaster, John Skilton, in 1920. She was evidently alarmed by Burton P. Fowler’s reputation as a “Progressive” educator when he was hired three years later to lead the school. She sent him a detailed questionnaire boldly probing his philosophy of education and asking about the working conditions she might have to endure under the new regime. As a traditionalist, she was never entirely satisfied with Fowler’s Progressive rule. She tolerated him because she loved the students, and he accepted her because it was evident to everyone that she was the most formidable intellect in the school other than the headmaster during the first decade of Tower Hill’s existence. There was some squeaking and, perhaps, even groaning as the two powerful personalities of these great teachers rubbed against each other. Mr. Fowler was a big enough man, however, to know the value of Ms. Sachs to the school.

Ms. Sachs is arguably the greatest teacher in Tower Hill’s history. Her passion for good writing and English literature was like a tidal wave that swept students up in the onrush of her enthusiasm. She took students to plays and museums and inspired them to achieve prodigies of accomplishment. She was alert to educational developments beyond the school and graded college entrance exams for the College Board, while Mr. Fowler lobbied hard to exempt Tower Hill students from these exams that he considered retrograde. She attended conferences and reached out

to learn about the state of English-teaching in colleges and universities. She established the Upper School English program as one of the central strengths of the school, a legacy that has endured for a century.

Ms. Sachs founded The Dial, originally as a literary and arts magazine, not the newspaper it later became. It quickly began to report on almost all aspects of life at Tower Hill. By the early 1930s, relations between Mr. Fowler and Ms. Sachs had frayed beyond repair. Ms. Sachs’ ninth grade English students were given a poem to study that began, “Vainly the fowler’s eye might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong.” Students gleefully interpolated “Mr.” before “Fowler,” an allusion to the headmaster’s patrols in the halls between classes to enforce school rules of deportment. History does not record Ms. Sachs’ commentary. The school was simply not big enough for both of them, and she decided to move on. It says much about Mr. Fowler that he found the money to pay for a parting gift and tribute to his rival. A hardbound anthology of poems previously appearing in The Dial was printed to honor Sachs.

The dedication of the book spoke of her “inspiring leadership.” Her great achievement was to help Tower Hill students “find joy and satisfaction in writing.”

Poems about nature and friendship, dreams and love predominated, but there was also a powerful piece about poverty and social justice. Ms. Sachs had great warmth but also a sharp edge.

—EAW

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Below: Tower Hill’s woodshop in 1927, with Newton Mount visible on the right side, in the background. Right: Mount later in his tenure at Tower Hill.

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Newton Mount

Years Taught:1921-1952

Newton Mount presided over an orderly but enjoyable workroom that found favor with Headmaster Burton P. Fowler because students “learned by doing,” and he was loved by students because he made work fun. Under Mr. Mount’s leadership, “shop” was a coeducational activity and not, as it was in many places until more recent days, purely a male preserve.

Girls were to be seen constructing wooden battleships while boys made spinning tops. Workbench projects were a center of his program, but Mr. Mount had bigger ideas.

Like a number of his colleagues, Mr. Mount was committed to Mr. Fowler’s Progressive ideas and devoted to the success of the school. He put his talents at the disposal of everyone for almost any purpose.

When Miss Buckles proposed opening Pooh Store, Mr. Mount organized a building gang to construct the warehouse and sales desk. In 1924 it was Mr. Mount who proposed and guided students in building “The Cabin,” an amazingly ambitious project. His workforce poured the concrete foundation, laid the sills, raised the beams and joists, hammered on the siding and roofed the building. Academic credit was given to those involved. The Cabin was a remarkable and sophisticated achievement for the Middle and Upper Schoolers involved. The project gave students a

good idea about what went into construction and also provided a place for cookouts, Scout meetings and social activities.

As many good teachers do, Mr. Mount had a theatrical bent. He caused a sensation when he played goal in the faculty/student field hockey game dressed in pantaloons, skirt and a golden curled wig. He continued to demonstrate his versatility and willingness to make a fool of himself when he wore a fake beard while filling in at the last moment for an absent Pete du Pont in a Middle School theatrical production in 1946. “It never seemed too much trouble for Mr. Mount to give generously of his time,” wrote Miss Jones after she corralled him into her latest charitable project.

Mr. Mount’s superb service set the standard for an extraordinary century of outstanding teaching in the Tower Hill shop. He was succeeded by Jim Straub (the elder), followed by Tom Coffran and Joe Zimmerman, and then Rich Pierce, who is still going strong. For a hundred years these five men have followed the standards that the first of them established. No other program at Tower Hill has had such strong continuity of leadership and accomplishment.

—EAW

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“In teaching she considered not the obligation but the love.�

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Julia Jones

Years Taught:1923-1957 Julia Jones embraced Headmaster Burton P. Fowler’s ideals of Progressive Education to the extent of implementing “hands-on” projects, such as making models of Greek and Roman buildings in her Latin classroom. She described these activities in “Demonstration Schools” during the summer at the epicenter of Progressivism, Columbia Teacher’s College. She took intense pleasure displaying student-made maps, murals and models. It took three successive grades to complete the huge and remarkably detailed replica of the Parthenon exhibited in the public library on Rodney Square in 1927. She wrote later: “My classroom was a real workshop and quite a show place.”

At the same time, no one at Tower Hill had a more terrifying reputation than Miss Jones when it came to the memorization of syntax and vocabulary (and the competitors such as Miss Buckles were formidable).

Jones’ teaching methods were rigorous and eccentric.

No one else was quite like her. Regular five-minute daily quizzes covered any topic assigned over the course of the whole year. One alumnus recollected, “Miss Jones could keep you busy four hours a night.” The Dial noted in 1936 that if Miss Jones ever campaigned for office, her slogan would be “never an idle moment.” She was also ruthless in driving the weak, lazy or inadequate out of the Latin program.

She offered the deal of a passing grade to those wise enough to drop the course after the first year. In her

free moments Miss Jones patrolled the halls to keep a lid on frivolity and impose decorum. Yet she also regularly attended athletic contests, in a raccoon coat, to lend friendly support to her students. A goldpainted football was presented to her one season by the team for perfect attendance.

Miss Jones was the faculty supervisor of the Civic and Welfare Committee, one of the most active and demanding student organizations in the school.

It undertook many charitable projects and could count on financial support from the profits of Miss Buckles’ Pooh Store. Under the new stricter and more conservative regime of Headmaster James Guernsey, who replaced Fowler in 1941, Miss Jones was selected to be the first secretary of the Tower Hill Cum Laude Society, an organization whose membership was based on academic achievement determined by grade point averages.

Yet, when it came time to give Miss Jones the almost unique honor at Tower Hill of commemorating her service with a brass plaque, still attached to a pillar in the Upper School Library, the supporting quotation could fairly be used to describe all of the great figures of her founding generation at the school and many of the giants since: “In teaching she considered not the obligation but the love.”

—EAW

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Mabel Judge

Years Taught:1925-1953

Another formidable teacher of the Fowler era and beyond was Mable Judge. A graduate of Smith College with an M.A. from McGill University, she studied on several occasions in France. Her mastery of the French language and teaching of it to students was exceptional.

Miss Judge was by no means an enthusiastic supporter of Headmaster Burton P. Fowler’s Progressive ideas about education. She was a traditionalist to the core. This led to clashes between the titans. When Miss Judge failed 15 students on a final exam, he wrote: “Your philosophy of education is at fault—you are more concerned with achievement than you are in making changes in human beings.

Next year you must teach your subject from the point of view of the needs of the children and not from some kind of an arbitrary standard that you have set up.” Miss Judge diplomatically swayed toward more Fowlerian language and conciliation of the headmaster, but she remained steadfast in her devotion to high standards and emphasis on fundamentals. They both knew, however, that it was

the children that mattered and not the subject.

Miss Judge was the faculty advisor to the Social and Club Committee that ran school dances. She paced the margins of the floor as a vigilant chaperone, but she was also to be seen with young partners brave enough to ask her to do the two-step. She persuaded colleagues to help out in jobs such as putting on a Santa Claus suit at Christmas dances. She combined wit and judgment, high aspirations and a recognition of human frailty, and she believed passionately that teaching French well was a way of teaching life.

—EAW

“Miss Judge wanted and expected the best from all her students. She knew how to engage students in the French language and culture, with reading French literature and conversation in class.”

—Emily Ernst Branscome ’51

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“Nobody else like her. I still have my seventh grade English book for reference at work. Pooh Store, decorated eggs, pine cone people. She taught me writing and grammar. She also practiced experiential learning decades before anyone knew what it was.”

—Barbara Thornton McBride ’68

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“She taught me how to not freeze taking tests.

Find a question that you can answer then go back to the questions that you thought you couldn’t! She had us running Pooh Store. The best education on how to work in the real world without a grown-up.”

—Susanna Brown Fenimore ’64

Cecile Buckles Years Taught:1926-1965

Born in Missouri and raised in Iowa, Cecile Buckles arrived in Wilmington in 1926 and retired from Tower Hill in 1965 (although she continued to edit the Alumni Bulletin until 1978). Her life became merged with the school she served, and vice versa.

Students in a yearbook dedication said simply: “You are as much a part of Tower Hill spirit as green and white.”

Miss Buckles was a Middle School English teacher and eventual head of Middle School. She believed strongly in diagramming sentences, and her former students experienced a lingering dread for the rest of their lives about dangling a participle or splitting an infinitive. Her standards were high, and many pupils found her classes almost too demanding. Yet a frequently recurring theme in alumni recollections about her was epitomized by former U.S. Sen. Mike Castle ’57: “Her English lessons, so difficult for some of us at the time, are much appreciated now and will aid all of her students all of their lives.”

Almost everyone who had Miss Buckles as a teacher remembers the dreaded diagramming, yet most also remember her with deep affection. She saw her students and the school as her family. She named Tower Hill the principal beneficiary in her will. She granted every pupil, however wayward

or unprepossessing, her respect. She never raised her voice even amidst scenes of chaos during mass rehearsals involving the entire Middle School for her celebrated Christmas pageants. She authored and directed these annual productions with the same care and creativity that she brought to every extracurricular activity under her supervision. As with so many such projects, like the huge Easter egg painting event, she was the creator and chief source of energy behind the scenes. The “happenings” lived and died with her.

Most famous of all the Buckles creations was Pooh Store. Students constructed the building (in the basement stairwell area near what is today the kitchen). A correspondence was launched with A. A. Milne and Christopher Robin. She rose at 5 a.m. to bake fresh batches of brownies to sell that morning.

The best-painted Easter eggs were made available for sale. Drums were beaten to exceed the profit records of previous years. As with all Buckles productions, students were central, however, both as consumers and sellers. They managed the books and ordered the stock. The money accumulated went to a class gift or other purposes such as the purchase of playground equipment for a segregated school in Georgetown. No alumnus of the Buckles years has a bad thing to say about Pooh Store.

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It was not grammar that was at the heart of what Miss Buckles taught. She valued children, not some academic subject. She modeled integrity and character. Her creativity sparked a response in others.

Her enthusiasm for life flowed over students like a penumbra of electricity. Her acts of imagination and courage rubbed off as pupils struggled with the intricacies of English grammar. She worked hard to build self-confidence, to help students understand that they could overcome difficult challenges, that life was full of fun and joy. She laughed frequently. She could be frighteningly direct and even stubborn, but she was a towering force for growth and good.

Miss Buckles took new faculty members under her wing and told them stories about individual students that helped them become better teachers. She also told them stories about Tower Hill. Consciously and unconsciously, she shaped the way the institution grew as a school. On the bridge, Headmaster Fowler preached a far more relaxed and progressive view of what teachers should do in the classroom. Miss Buckles down on the lower decks ignored that advice. This was a woman who carried a key ring with 28 keys on it. Everything was organized and diagrammed. However, Fowler and Buckles were deeply in accord on the importance of creativity, kindness, encouragement, integrity and learning by doing. Together they shaped a legacy that has survived a century of change. She once wrote to him: “I cannot tell you what it means to me to work and to live under the guidance of a man so capable as [you].” Her larger-than-life character and great spirit made her one of the most remarkable and influential teachers in the history of the school.

—EAW

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“One day I told her that I was sick and going home only to be sussed out by her in my grandparents’ car just leaving for the circus. I didn’t fool her at all. Just before we drove off, she said, ‘Your sins will catch up with you!’ That one statement has guided me to date.”

—Peter Brooks ’69

Cecile Buckles with longtime friend and colleague Eleanor Norris.

Eleanor Norris

Years Taught:1927-1964

Eleanor Norris was a Lower School teacher and then head of the Lower School. In her early days as a teacher, she allied with other towering figures in the history of the school. They were not just interested in the classroom. Community activities of all kinds engaged their attention. Gardenia Day, for example, was used to raise money for charitable causes. Miss Jones and Miss Norris drove to Hatboro, Pennsylvania, to buy the flowers. Sales so far exceeded supply on the first occasion that Miss Norris drove back to Hatboro for a second batch.

One of her colleagues summed up Miss Norris’ career.

“Countless hundreds of children have been enriched by her inspired teaching. Countless hundreds of parents have been encouraged and guided by her wisdom, her patience, her sympathetic understanding. And the School as a school—how it has been strengthened by her absolute loyalty, her unfailing devotion, her long continuity of service.”

—EAW

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CHAPTER 2 Lower School

Judy McCracken Years Taught:1964-1994

Judy McCracken embodied the Tower Hill motto, Multa Bene Facta, in her long and successful teaching career at Tower Hill. A graduate of Wilmington Friends School, she began her teaching career as a kindergarten teacher and later moved to first grade.

As a first grade teacher, she began each September

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with inquisitive, wide-eyed, slightly tentative children, full of expectations, and skillfully molded them into independent students, ready to embark on new challenges by creating a rich and varied school experience.

Ms. McCracken included her talents and her passions in her teaching. She loved music and began each day with her kids singing a song while she accompanied them on the piano. Ms. McCracken had an affinity for bears and dolls. She had an extensive collection of both, which she proudly displayed in a glass cabinet.

Every year her classes would read Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl and Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.

She also had a passion for early American history, and many a Tower Hill student developed a love and appreciation of history that began with her annual study of colonial times. Often the whole class appeared at Halloween parades dressed as colonial children. They wore those outfits throughout the year in theatrical productions and on class trips.

Her interest in theater led her to write and produce many first grade plays and to amass a large number of costumes that were used regularly in Lower School productions.

Ms. McCracken’s presence even changed forever the face of the supervision before school. Children hurried their parents in order to reach school in time to participate in the morning game tournaments and holiday art contests. Although Ms. McCracken never missed a teachable moment, the pervading hallmark of her teaching was the atmosphere of love, acceptance and trust that she provided in her classroom.

interests. Many people did not know that she was Delaware State Badminton Singles Champion in the mid-1950s. She was also a field hockey fullback on the Delaware First Team in regional tournament play. Later, Ms. McCracken officiated field hockey with great expertise and fairness. As an alumna of Friends and a teacher at Tower Hill, she wore her own “alumna blue” and “Tower Hill green” when officiating Friends/Tower Hill field hockey games, always fairly and accurately.

Ms. McCracken loved kids and people in general. She was never too busy to welcome older kids who came popping in to visit their beloved first grade teacher.

She kept in touch with many former students, often being invited to celebrate weddings, graduations and other milestones in their lives.

—HNB

“It’s difficult to pick a single teacher, but the most influential for me was Ms. McCracken. She was an amazing teacher who made learning fun. For me, her willingness to go above and beyond led to my love of math and science, which continues to this day.”

—Jehan deFonseka ’03

Ms. McCracken’s vivacious, easy-going personality allowed her to embrace life and a multitude of

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Betty Long

Years Taught:1968-1992

Betty Long came to Tower Hill from Marbrook Elementary School in 1968. She was hired to teach the fourth grade and stayed in that role for 20 years.

Under her guidance, the annual trip to Williamsburg continued and grew even more exciting and memorable. She worked hard to lay the groundwork for students by teaching about the early history of the United States. She created spelling bees at which many lucky winners were treated to her delicious homemade fudge. For the recurring performance of the play Small One, Ms. Long and a group of faculty members stayed after the school day ended to practice the guitar coached by Bill Carveth.

Ms. Long had many other accomplishments. Her talent for calligraphy was put to use on Tower Hill awards, certificates and diplomas. She was the editor of the fourth grade newspaper, the highlight of which was a “Dear Abby” column. Her advice to children was not only wise but spoke directly to individual students in powerful ways. Ms. Long was also an early enthusiast for computers and pioneered efforts to teach children about them. In 1981 she purchased a computer for her classroom and made open access

to it throughout the day part of her program. She and her husband, Wendell, spent many hours as volunteers at the Wilmington Medical Center. During the summer she worked eight hours a day as a “second pair of hands” for the nurses in the neurology ward. Later she dedicated her time to continue to proselytize and train children to use computers in Tower Hill’s Summer Session.

Ms. Long became so adept with computers that after retiring from teaching she took over as Tower Hill’s first central information manager. While she computerized many of the laborious tasks formerly carried out in snail-like fashion shuffling paper, she also rarely needed to go to the records to answer a question. This was true even if the question was as specific as which faculty member in a particular year was more senior and so should be ahead of their colleague in the marching order for Graduation.

She also mastered the intricacies of the large copier in the faculty workroom so that professional repair assistance was rarely required.

—HNB and EAW

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Marjorie Altergott circa 1994.

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Marjorie Altergott

Years Taught:1968-2011

Marjorie Altergott came to Tower Hill immediately following her graduation from the University of Delaware. She noted that her college career had been a little longer than usual as she was attending school while caring for her young children. That experience was immediately put to good use, as she became a prekindergarten teacher. In fact, Ms. Altergott spent her entire career in Lower School and nearly evenly split her time between prekindergarten and teaching computer classes to the entire Lower School.

One of the wonderful and also demanding challenges of education is to introduce 4-year-olds to school. For over 20 years “across the street,” Ms. Altergott did just that by helping her charges learn through play and adjust to more formal learning techniques, as well as helping them learn to interact appropriately with each other. Equally, and sometimes more importantly, she helped their parents begin to adjust to seeing their children through the eyes of other caring adults, as they began their academic careers. But as the personal computer revolution developed and appeared even earlier in the curriculum, Ms. Altergott found a new calling.

Her fascination with the new technology and commitment to teaching children about it led to her appointment as the first Lower School computer teacher. Soon virtually all of the Lower School

students had been introduced to the computer programming language, LOGO, and were giving commands to a turtle that made its way across the computer screen based on the input drawing a line behind with a pen located on its tail. It was a way to teach children to think like a programmer at a time when it was assumed all students would have to program later in their lives. It was “state of the art” when Ms. Altergott taught it. It was also only the beginning of the growth in the use of computers in the Lower School. Learning to search for information and word processing became two of the staples of the Lower School program, and her students were well prepared for the demands of Middle School thanks to her. It was a program that continued to grow and change under Ms. Altergott’s direction.

All Lower School students were affected by Ms. Altergott, and she kept a careful eye on their progress in the years that followed. Not only was she curious about their academic progress, but also she could often be seen at volleyball games and other athletic contests. In the way of the Lower School teachers, she took great pride in all the accomplishments of the older students, especially those she had known so well in Lower School.

—HNB

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Barbara Hoover circa 1994.

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Barbara Hoover

Years Taught: 1973-1994

Barbara Hoover was one of those wonderful teachers who could easily fly under the radar; one of those consummately professional and effective classroom operatives who, while loved and respected by her students and their parents as well as other faculty and the administration, can easily be overlooked. Neither Ms. Hoover nor her contributions to the quality of the school should be overlooked or understated.

In her unassuming way, Ms. Hoover created a haven of learning and inspiration for her students. As both Lower School primary teacher of third grade and later as Middle School reading coordinator, she did as much as anyone to customize her programs to meet the abilities and needs of her students. While some teachers tended to stick with the same or similar materials year after year, Ms. Hoover was always exploring new books to read and exciting ways to teach them. To her, every summer was a time to refresh, revamp and re-energize what would happen in her classroom in the fall. One of the outcomes of her preparation was the love of reading she engendered in hundreds of elementary students and early teenagers.

It is no surprise, then, that so many of her colleagues sought her out, looking for the most current books available and great ways to teach them that motivated kids to read and to learn.

In the mid 1980s, concerned about how much homework fifth through eighth graders were being assigned, Ms. Hoover spent hour upon hour painstakingly charting the amount of time students were spending preparing for their classes. Her work, never done with any fanfare, paved the way for a more balanced approach to assigning homework within the Middle School. Typically, she never sought any credit for the scores of hours she spent helping facilitate this division-wide change.

Never outspoken or bossy, Ms. Hoover always led by example and with an amazing degree of gentleness. In her role as sixth grade head class advisor for several years, she did everything in her power to make sure that all teachers at that grade level were working in tandem with one another, often exploring similar themes in their courses. One of her roles was in helping coordinate the Northwoods Trip, a multidisciplinary experience for the sixth grade inherited from Bobbette Mason. “Northwoods� is remembered as a Middle School highlight by many alumni.

Ms. Hoover, with her wisdom and insight into children, embodied exactly what many feel makes a great teacher: someone who taught her students first and her subject area second. —JN

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Nesta Chevrier with students, circa 1992.

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Nesta Chevrier

Years Taught: 1977-1991

A close friend of Betty Richardson and an experienced teacher, Nesta Chevrier joined the kindergarten program as an assistant in 1977. While she took some teasing since her previous teaching experience had been at Wilmington Friends School, it was immediately apparent that she was a wonderful addition to the Tower Hill community and to the preschool in particular. Ms. Chevrier’s talents and her ability to connect with students of all ages quickly were apparent.

Ms. Chevrier brought natural gifts to her chosen profession. She was by nature a positive and upbeat person with an easy laugh and a joy of life. She simply adored young children, and they recognized it in her warm and caring way with them. Ms. Chevrier was also a serious educator and brought a keen mind to her work. She was observant and had an ability to work with both students and parents effectively.

When she was dealing with a student having difficulty, she had a way of being encouraging and of calming the anxieties in both pupil and parents. She had a knack for working collaboratively with people, and her perpetually happy disposition helped create a positive environment.

Her other significant role was as “Miss Rich’s” assistant coach in field hockey. They created a powerful coaching combination, winning four state

championships and placing as runners-up three times. They truly complemented each other, with Ms. Chevrier concentrating on the defense. Their respect for each other allowed them to be open and honest, and their competitive natures meshed in their coaching. Ms. Chevrier added her keen understanding of the game to Ms. Richardson’s, and she balanced her intensity with a sense of humor and an upbeat, positive approach to everything, just as she did in teaching in the Lower School. She also had great instincts and was a terrific motivator.

Affectionately known as “Nestea” to the field hockey players, they recognized, just as the younger students did, that she cared about and truly loved the children she was working with.

Students did not know Ms. Chevrier was an equally terrific colleague. There was always a smile and a welldeveloped sense of humor, but she was also a person whom colleagues could go to for sound advice. She brought great common sense and integrity to any problem. So, every part of the school community benefited from her presence, and her positive spirit and kindness are remembered with the statue of a little boy full of the joy of life that is, appropriately, in the hall of the preschool wing. You cannot see the statue without smiling, and those who remember Ms. Chevrier always smile at the memory.

—HNB

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Deb Kaiser

Deb Kaiser, center, at Field Day 2007.

Years Taught: 1978-2016 Betty Richardson “took a chance on a raw kid from Wilmington High and the University of Delaware,� so says Deb Kaiser about her arrival at Tower Hill. A part-time coach at the beginning of her career, she became full-time and was thrown into a Physical Education Department with two of the legends of Tower Hill, Bob DeGroat and Betty Richardson.

These two had each been teaching at Tower Hill for over 20 years, and the first few years in physical

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education for Ms. Kaiser were a combination of an on-the-job graduate program and the development of her own style. It was a style also reflected in her other major challenge: creating a volleyball program from scratch. Clearly, no one then could have anticipated that Ms. Kaiser would become a pillar of the physical education program and the Athletic Department, and a beloved member of the faculty.

It is impossible to say whether Ms. Kaiser was more effective as a physical education teacher or as the originator and leader of the volleyball program. She loved working with young students, helping them to develop their skills through activities and games.

While these physical talents grew, there was a whole curriculum of life skills that were included. Students knew that being kind, working hard, teamwork and showing good sportsmanship were as important as learning how to skip or throw a ball. A quiet, firm conversation with Ms. Kaiser, when it was clear you did not understand those values, was something students remembered long after the event, especially since it was concluded with some positive words of encouragement or in really emotional moments by a hug. Students could also expect reminders when needed and recognition for any improvement in the future, sometimes months or years later. Students understood that Ms. Kaiser really cared about them.

Ms. Kaiser’s attention to detail and sincere interest in the students was equally clear in her coaching. While she coached track and basketball in both Middle School and Upper School, her real love was volleyball.

Volleyball had to compete with the highly successful field hockey program and a very small pool of players.

She certainly was equal to the task as the numbers increased each year and so did the success. The fourth coach inducted into the Delaware Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame, she amassed a record of 231 wins and 53 losses, 16 conference titles and qualified for the state tournament 26 of the 29 years she was coach.

But win or lose, “Coach Kaiser’s girls” experienced an older version of what many knew from earlier years.

She challenged them to do their best, and she was

right beside them to encourage and support them. It did not matter whether it was volleyball, an academic problem or a personal one; Coach Kaiser was always available.

Students did not see many of the things that Ms. Kaiser did for the school. Whether it was spending hours balancing the teams for Field Day, personally installing the volleyball mounts in the floor of the gym, attending other athletic events or speaking with faculty about how students were doing, she was always trying to do something that would improve the experience for students. The result of all her efforts, seen and unseen, was that she had a positive influence on virtually every student in the school. In the words of one of her players: “The most important product of my volleyball career is my continued friendship with an incredible coach, supporter, teacher and cheerleader who continues to inspire me with her strength, devotion and determination.” Everyone she has worked with would agree.

—HNB and MES

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Tower Hill had a modern version of the Pied Piper, and his name was Steuart Markley. The unique thing about this Pied Piper was his appeal not just to the young, but to people of all ages. They recognized his talent and the genuine interest that he displayed in everyone, but most of all his seemingly unbridled enthusiasm for what he was doing and life in general.

Mr. Markley first arrived at Tower Hill as a parttime track coach. An All-Atlantic Coast Conference pole vault champion, he brought his college and his coaching experience in the public schools in Maryland and Delaware to an already strong track program at Tower Hill. His impact was felt immediately, and he was soon spending most afternoons at Tower Hill. However, his position at Claymont was as the director of physical education and health. Fate stepped in, and the opening to be in charge of physical education at Tower Hill occurred.

Mr. Markley joined the school full-time.

His enthusiasm was infectious, and his flexibility in meeting student needs while maintaining a developmentally appropriate program was noteworthy. So, interesting and creative things happened. Students liked to run in the tunnel to the Field House, which they were not supposed to do. Mr. Markley allowed them to skip, which was a developmental skill. Tinikling, a traditional Philippine dance that included rhythmic tapping of bamboo sticks as a dancer moved in and out appeared, as did a large parachute that was manipulated by very young children. Grandparents loved seeing both of these. But there was also running, throwing and other developmental skills, and lots of games. Mr. Markley believed in friendly

Steuart Markley

Years Taught: 1985-2002

competition and in teaching determination and sportsmanship, especially as the students got older and approached the competitive sports program.

Mr. Markley got to join the students in the competition. He coached Middle School football, helped with wrestling and even was asked to do some lacrosse at the end of his career. This was while he maintained his coaching in winter and spring track.

He seemed to have a knack for being everywhere at once during track practice and to have time to coach everyone individually. Many of the participants on his track teams were students who originally did not have much interest in the sport, but with persistent “recruiting” from Mr. Markley, they decided to give it a try. They discovered more hard work than many of them expected, lots of encouragement and good-natured kidding, and success as a team and individually. Track demanded a lot, and it was fun.

The football program at both the Middle and Upper School level also benefited from Mr. Markley’s enthusiasm and his ability to encourage people to reach for their best. It was a message that was woven through all of his efforts: Give it your all, and enjoy what you are doing as a school, a team and an individual. His positive impact was recognized in two significant ways. First, he was awarded the Kitchel Chair for teaching excellence, and he was asked to be a Graduation speaker. The enthusiasm about his selection for both honors was indicative of the high regard in which he was held by the students and the adults in the Tower Hill community.

—HNB 45

“She made third grade memorable and so much fun.

I will never forget her as a teacher. She was one of the most caring and kind teachers I’ve known.”

—Anonymous

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Carol Hogue arrived at Tower Hill with a long list of schools in different states on her résumé, due to relocations necessitated by her husband’s professional life. But she also knew Wilmington because she had taught in the public schools and at one of Tower Hill’s competitors. She brought that experience, a calm, thoughtful approach and an easy laugh to the Lower School.

Every teacher has an interest in education and educational trends, but Ms. Hogue was someone who kept herself up to date on what was going on in elementary education. She went beyond that and wanted to look at how the Lower School impacted the Middle School and, to a lesser extent, the Upper School. So it was not a surprise when Head of Lower School Sandy Wang initiated a “Town Meeting” to encourage and showcase the arts that Ms. Hogue was part of the group charged with the planning.

Additionally, an idea was developed to have fourth graders help select the prose, poetry, art, songs and dance for the Town Meetings. This group, called “Cultural Explorers,” provided a significant leadership opportunity and needed supervision. She loved poetry and created a poet residency, and she was the first to introduce free verse “Poe flow” competitions.

It was certainly logical for her to help lead the effort and include her fourth grade colleagues.

Ms. Hogue brought her interests directly into the classroom. One of her colleagues noted that “she encouraged and nurtured the poetic voices, creative writing and artistic flair in her students … and colleagues.” So, there were “Moon Journals” in which students wrote letters to the moon, poetry and stories accompanied by sketches as they tracked the moon and gazed at the night sky for a month. Photo cubes made by the fourth graders with pictures of

Carol Hogue

Years Taught: 1993-2005

every Lower School student were displayed in the fourth grade reading lounge. She simply seemed to understand the minds of children and was always interested in trying something new, compelling and creative. Many of these ideas were based on her belief in new research on learning and the brain. Students benefited from her skill through these creative assignments and through her careful attention to making sure they also had the skills and discipline to be successful. You had to work in Ms. Hogue’s class, and it was fun.

Ms. Hogue was a master teacher. Part of that was her collaboration with her colleagues, whether with the development of the aforementioned Town Meetings; being in charge of the Williamsburg trip (in one instance with 34 students with the stomach flu!); how to include mindfulness in their fourth grade curriculum; or how they wanted to teach particular skills. She was involved with her peers, especially the fourth grade team. “What if …” was a favorite way to begin the conversation. One colleague describes her as inspirational and a mentor.

In his remarks to the faculty when Ms. Hogue departed, Headmaster Tim Golding summarized her career here in this way: “During her 11 years at Tower Hill, Carol Hogue brought an extraordinarily high level of professionalism to each of her endeavors—a commitment to curriculum development, a concern and respect for each of her students, an ability to form constructive, positive working relationships with parents and a collaborative approach to work with her colleagues.”

—HNB 47

CHAPTER 3 Middle School

“The notes I took in Mrs. Morton’s sixth grade English Class took me through Upper School, college and graduate school. Then, I turned around and copied those notes and gave them to my students when I started teaching.

They were the most comprehensive, concise notes on the English language I, or many of the teachers I have encountered, have ever seen. What a treasure Tower Hill gave so many students by having Jean Morton in our midst.”

—E. Talley Brown ’81

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Jean Morton

Years Taught: 1953-1982

Jean Morton joined the Middle School English program halfway through the academic year in 1953. Diminutive in stature, she proved a giant in the classroom. She adapted quickly to the strong emphasis put on grammar. To this day, alumni from her classes live in dread of composing a run-on sentence. They also claim, however, that their notes from her sixth grade course were so good that the summaries carried them through to college and on to graduate school. Everybody seems to remember that “As” were elusive in her classes, but this must be paired with the statement: “She’s tough, but fair.” She had the gift that great teachers have of presenting ideas in ways that students found memorable. She focused their attention on the famous characters of literature but made the material feel fresh and exciting. Even grammar came to seem to be like a puzzle, a game that could be successfully solved.

“Mama Morton” as she was known, was a traditionalist unbendingly dedicated to high standards. However, she was also a realist and behind a somewhat crisp exterior gentle and kind. She kept her eye on the big picture in terms of the health of

the school and was not one of those who carped about minor problems or pragmatic decisions by the administration. Her high academic standards never prevented her from reaching out to help students who were vulnerable or struggling. She kept an eye out for those who might be in distress either over their studies or in gaining social acceptance. She made sure that they did not slip beneath the waves silently. She forged alliances with other teachers to “save” those in deep waters. Her warm embrace was offered to all who needed support.

Mrs. Morton had a well-developed sense of humor.

Most reminiscences about her include a reference to constant laughter. She hated driving in the snow, and retirement offered the opportunity for her not only to avoid that dreaded activity but also to enjoy some schadenfreude. On the first stormy morning of her newfound state of peace, she made a point of calling colleagues laughing as she told them how much she was enjoying herself looking out the window at the falling flakes from her favorite armchair.

—EAW

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“She was a knowledgeable and committed teacher who was flexible and energetic. In fourth grade we did a chicken dissection—it was a tremendous amount of planning and preparation to get us ready for the weeks of dissecting and reassembly of the bones.”

—Melissa Wagner Flynn ’91 Bobbette Mason taught students using the inquiry method before anyone talked about it.

She was amazingly supportive, but she was also gently demanding. So, they learned to label their measurements, to keep notes about experiments and to be inquisitive. Students touched, manipulated, heard, examined and took risks. Her colleagues both in the state of Delaware and in the National Science Teachers Associations sought to learn about Mrs. Mason’s programs and emulate her work.

One of Mrs. Mason’s great contributions to Tower Hill was teaching about human reproduction. She believed that it was important for Middle School students to understand how the world worked and to demythologize the process, but she was sensitive to adult concerns. Parents were given the chance to withdraw their children from this part of the curriculum, but, with one exception, no one ever did after talking with Mrs. Mason.

Mrs. Mason believed kids should have a chance to be kids and resisted attempts to cram even more into her curriculum or to ratchet up her marking.

Her classroom was where the Lower School reading rooms are today, and it was not unusual to see Middle or Upper School students coming out of her classroom after stopping to say hello. She always made them feel like she was genuinely interested in what was happening in their lives because she really wanted to know. The kids and parents trusted her implicitly.

Bobbette Mason

Years Taught: 1963-1990

Mrs. Mason’s fifth grade “Native Naturalists” course involved an overnight visit to the Ashland Nature Center and became a nationally recognized example of an outstanding science curriculum. The program was cross-disciplinary and widened and deepened student understanding of science and Native American culture. She organized annual, weeklong trips for the sixth grade to Otter Lake Conservation School in New Hampshire in early March, where most of the lessons were taught outdoors. Thermal underwear was only the beginning of a list of required garments needed to bundle up. Students learned about the interrelationship and interdependence of all living things. Some Outward Bound-style challenges were built into the program, but sledding, ice skating, square dancing and campfire singing were also included.

Tower Hill awarded Mrs. Mason the Kitchel Chair, but there was no more powerful candidate in the history of the school in simply earning the respect and love of students. Many people attributed later life choices to her inspiration. Most became more careful stewards of their environment. One alumnus remembered that she was matchless in her ability to teach with “grace, ease and care.” The mere mention of the Northwoods trip to former students of her era evokes a tidal wave of stories and reaches deep into the wellsprings of memory for every one of them.

—EAW and HNB

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George Stetson

Years Taught: 1965-2000

After serving in the Marines, George Stetson came to Tower Hill with a carriage held erect, notable neatness of dress and a firm grip on discipline. He was also one of the kindest and most gregarious people you could ever hope to meet. He tackled life, however daunting its problems, with a “can do” spirit and great good humor, always ready to relish plans gone awry or the absurdities of misdirected enthusiasm.

Mr. Stetson loved history. He savored every aspect of the past. He would hold up a simple brick and wax eloquent about its production and purpose. He was at his very best in the celebrated Battle of Brandywine trip. These excursions were planned with the thoroughness of the D-Day invasion. He made a point of meeting ahead of time with all the landowners over whose property his army of Middle Schoolers would pass. In the process he became vastly knowledgeable about even minute details of the battle. His mastery of the subject was unrivaled and helped Tower Hill students understand that what looked like a modern parking lot or house was deeply embedded in the past.

Mr. Stetson was also famous for his tours of Washington, D.C. As with Brandywine, careful preparations were made ahead of time. He would take part of a weekend to go down to the capital to scout

out points of interest and select items in museums for his students to track down. He employed his increasingly vast Rolodex of alumni and parent connections to arrange meetings with senators and congressmen to help make the process of government human and exciting for his students. The trip was also a challenge for Middle School legs that had not reached full length in keeping up with Mr. Stetson’s warp-speed, evening walks on the Mall. The kids loved him for his energy and vigor.

Mr. Stetson’s memory for faces and names was remarkable. Even though he might not have taught seniors since sixth grade, he would greet them in the corridors and at athletic events with full recognition and enthusiasm, up to date with all of their current activities. This connection continued on into adult life. If he went downtown for lunch, it would take him half an hour to walk a single block on Rodney Square or Market Street as he bumped into one former student after another and discussed their careers, siblings and family connections in depth. He was an exemplary human being of great warmth and deep moral values. His students recognized this and tried as much as possible to emulate his impressive array of virtues.

—EAW

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Carlton Tappan, right, with fellow science teacher Bobbette Mason.

“I had the good fortune of traveling with Mr. Tappan and eight of my Hiller classmates between ninth and tenth grade on a five-week trip out west. We visited Colorado, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone, The Tetons and many other national parks. This trip was a life-changing experience for me and my classmates. We were inspired by the natural wonders and traveled as a family to campgrounds, cabins and motels along the way ... We saw dinosaur footprints along the highway, hunted for trilobites in Utah, went rafting in Wyoming, explored ancient cliff dwellings in Colorado, camped and made dinner, and made friends for life. Mr. Tappan inspired a love of learning, an appreciation of nature and a great respect for our vast country.”

—Dan Del Duca ’84

Carlton Tappan Years Taught: 1967-1994

After graduating from Ohio State in 1958 with a major in anatomy, Carlton Tappan started working for Norwich Pharmaceuticals as a histochemist.

He switched jobs in 1962 to work as a research toxicologist for DuPont’s Haskell Labs, where he tested skin reactions to industrial chemicals. Not finding the work particularly rewarding, he thought of going into teaching instead. Mr. Tappan chose Tower Hill because he “liked the positive atmosphere and felt comfortable with the faculty and the kids.”

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Mr. Tappan was assigned seventh grade general science and eighth grade physical science. He claimed that after only two weeks, he knew he had made the right decision.

Asked about early memories, Mr. Tappan mentioned the startled look on Dick Byrne’s face when, in the spring of 1968, the latter walked into the lab just as some homemade gunpowder was set off. One of Mr. Tappan’s students thought the experiment was great

and wanted to repeat it at home. Mr. Tappan gave him the formula but had him use sodium bicarbonate rather than sodium nitrate. The student never did figure out why it didn’t work.

Mr. Tappan’s real love was earth science. Among his fondest memories are his nine summer “Tappan’s Terrors” trips to the western United States. The journeys of discovery were composed of a van full of ninth graders camping their way across the country to view the national parks, the Rocky Mountains and the land in between. Mr. Tappan insisted that the trips be by car rather than by plane so that the students could gain an appreciation for the size and diversity of America, something that he felt was essential to their education.

Idaho. Mr. Tappan also returned in September after his retirement as a substitute eighth grade science teacher, but with, as he said, “no study halls, early morning duty or Octave classes, thank you very much!”

When asked what advice he would give upcoming Tower Hill students, Mr. Tappan replied, “Give it your best shot. It’s not a failure if your grades aren’t high, it’s the effort that counts. Education is learning your abilities and limitations, accepting yourself for who you are and developing self-confidence. Education is as much character development as anything else.”

—WGC and HNB

Tracy Graham Wenzinger ’86, for a number of years a Tower Hill science teacher herself, told a story of the only time she ever saw Mr. Tappan nonplussed. When they visited various Mormon sites in Salt Lake City, one of the Mormon guides complimented him on his family of nine children. The guy didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that all the students were within two years in age, and that some had dark hair, and some had fair hair—but it certainly did bother Mr. Tappan and his wife, Martha!

Mr. Tappan did not sit idly after his retirement.

He continued to collect and trade model railroad equipment and to work at Hagley Museum, a job he took in 1971 to help support his passion for collecting trains. His love of these models dated back to a gift he received for Christmas as a 7-year-old boy living in

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John Pierson

Years Taught: 1968-2009 John Pierson’s connection to Tower Hill began with his arrival as a student during World War II and continued through the Phillies’ loss to the Yankees in the World Series of 2009. With only a brief interruption for Hamilton College and a first job ending when he returned to Tower Hill in the fall of 1968, Mr. Pierson’s entire life was connected to the school. He was the embodiment of Tower Hill to many, and there was a widespread conviction that he would bleed green and white if he was injured.

Cecile Buckles and Jean Morton did not know it at the time, but Mr. Pierson was their protégé when it came to English grammar. Over 40 years after the

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class, one of his students could still remember: “The articles are ‘the,’ ‘a,’ ‘an.’ They point out the nouns: ‘the boy,’ ‘a man’ … ” in a Facebook exchange with classmates, and included in the same exchange was the perhaps even more famous: “Can I make a comment? Ummm, sorry Mr. Pierson. ‘May I?’” Mr. Pierson’s commitment and consistency in teaching English were his hallmarks, only surpassed by his notoriety for making sure students paid attention. A well-directed piece of chalk might whistle through the air directed toward any notably inattentive English scholar, but to the joy of many of his students, if you caught the chalk, you could throw it back!

As much as English was serious business, Mr. Pierson’s classes were also the product of a man who really enjoyed being around students of any age.

His specialty, however, was an affinity for Middle Schoolers. Whether it was allowing them to throw the chalk back, or his competitive spirit while helping his homeroom during the Christmas room decorations, or his unabashed support for the White Team at Field Day, Mr. Pierson enjoyed helping students and getting involved with them. He loved jigsaw puzzles and always had one in his classroom, and he encouraged students to help complete it in their free time. In fact, it was the rare occasion that there were not at least a few students in his room whenever he was free.

But it was not always Middle School students, as Mr. Pierson frequently had drop-ins from Upper School students. Some were students who he was coaching, but many were former students who regularly stopped in to “shoot the breeze” or get his opinion on a serious issue. Mr. Pierson always had time for students.

His other great joy in working with students was athletics. A longtime football and boys’ basketball coach, Mr. Pierson’s last stint was an assistant girls’ lacrosse coach. Like in his classes, Mr. Pierson had the capacity to be all business and very demanding, yet he could also have fun with the players. He could push football players, especially “his” linemen, to the edge of mutiny while doing conditioning, and all the while there was constant good-natured grousing and banter between him and the players. Teams in all the sports respected him and loved to joke around with him. This was equally true with girls at the end of his coaching career who dubbed him “Coach P,”

a moniker that stuck from then on. However, his commitment went beyond his students.

Mr. Pierson was equally devoted to his colleagues and the school. The football field needed to be set up. He did it. The highway clean-up crew for Tower Hill’s section of Rising Sun Lane needed organizing.

He rallied the faculty. A new faculty member arrived to move in during the heat of July. He appeared, introduced himself and helped move furniture.

Someone was sick; there was a funeral; there was an alumni event; you could be certain Mr. Pierson would be there. The Green and White Club was founded; he was a founding member and seemingly irreplaceable worker from then on. Could he be critical? Absolutely, but that was only with the people inside the school; otherwise, he was a constant supporter of all things green and white. Faculty and students learned by simply watching and listening to Mr. Pierson that Tower Hill was special and deserved devotion.

It was no surprise that Mr. Pierson spent the last part of his career in the Development Office. Who could possibly be better to reach out to alumni and friends of the school? He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. It also gave him an opportunity to do what he believed: to learn from the past and look to the future.

Mr. Pierson created a tremendous legacy through his contributions on many levels at Tower Hill.

—HNB

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Frank Singles

Years Taught: 1981-2016

Good teachers create classrooms that leave a permanent stamp on students. Frank Singles was a genius at this. There was order and purpose to everything. Politeness and respect were extended and expected in return. A little chaos at the beginning and the end made more vivid the placid and workmanlike atmosphere that dominated most class time.

Everybody knew what to do. Everybody participated, and there were many student-centered activities.

The decoration of Mr. Singles’ classroom was unusual.

Souvenirs of many kinds found their way onto the shelves. The most impressive material objects were a collection of Coca-Cola bottles and cans that students brought back over the years from every corner of the globe—a permanent geography lesson in aluminum and glass.

Walls did not confine Mr. Singles. He led expeditions.

His master class took place for over 30 years at Cape Henlopen, where every detail was planned and prepared with extraordinary care. Amateur archaeologists sifted the sands on the beach.

Historical sites were visited and explained. And the students had a great time splashing in the water and being kids out of school.

Mr. Singles believed strongly in building foundations of character, skills and scholarship. He was methodical in planning how students should learn to study and to become good citizens and people.

He was alert to the latest research in his field and attended professional conferences on a regular basis.

He saw history teaching in its broadest context. All of the social sciences were part of his program, and students were prepared to view the past from a wide variety of perspectives. His high moral standards were embedded in all that he taught. Students were aware that his grounding in the fundamentals would stand them in good stead as they plunged into the rigor of the Upper School curriculum.

Mr. Singles was all over the place in the Middle School, metaphorically and physically. There was no Halloween party, pep rally, dance or fair that he did not attend. He coached and cheered kids along on the athletic fields and in all their other extracurricular activities. He just loved kids, and they knew it.

Mr. Singles could seem intimidating in the early weeks of the year. His manner was pretty crisp and businesslike. But as time went on, students realized and came to value deeply his commitment to their success. —WMA and EAW

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Pam Matsanka

Years Taught: 1982-2012

If Tower Hill had a Hall of Fame, Pam Matsanka would be elected on the first ballot! Ms. Matsanka appeared on Tower Hill scene in September 1982, an untested rookie with huge potential. She had the formidable task of filling the shoes of the just-retired Middle School English teacher icon Jean Morton.

homework checkout, locker set-ups) that developed students’ executive functioning skills, ones they would need to be successful for the rest of their educational lives. In addition, she instituted the teambuilding Sandy Hill experience designed to help the fifth grade become a more cohesive group.

Undaunted, Ms. Matsanka wasted no time in quickly establishing herself as an excellent Middle School operative. She became what in independent school parlance is referred to as a “triple threat,” a teacher who is effective in the classroom, handles activities and all the other duties that help the school run, and coaches.

While she was doing all of these things, Ms. Matsanka was proving herself to be an effective coach. She assisted as girls’ varsity tennis coach for a half dozen years, and not coincidentally was part of leading four squads to state championships. As head field hockey coach, she filled the three-year gap between the long tenures of Betty Richardson and Robin Adair Harvey by coaching the team to three consecutive state titles.

Ms. Matsanka first showed that she was an excellent classroom instructor. In her 30 years of teaching, she developed curricula for fifth and eighth grade English courses, always had her classes well in hand and provided extra help whenever it was needed.

Students and colleagues alike saw her as an excellent role model.

Ms. Matsanka became one of the first Middle School head class advisors, taking over the often tricky job of shepherding the newest Middle School students, the fifth graders, as they learned to negotiate their way around switching classes every period, organizing their work and handling the social challenges that emerged as they approached their teenage years.

She created a number of organizational techniques (color-coded notebooks by subject area, after-school

Ms. Matsanka eventually became an assistant head of the Middle School, and when John Newlin retired in 2008, she took over the reins of the Middle School until she retired in 2012.

What made Ms. Matsanka such a great member of the Tower Hill faculty was her many admirable leadership qualities. She was always positive, had outstanding good sense and instincts, commanded respect and often the adoration of her students, was a superb team player and was always willing to take on a task or fill in for someone when they were absent. On top of these attributes, she always approached her work with love and a self-effacing humility.

—JN

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Carol Pepper

Years Taught: 1986-2016 Carol Pepper joined Tower Hill’s faculty in August 1986, and she and former Headmaster Tim Golding are fond of recalling that she was his first hire. Ms. Pepper hit the ground running. She took over seventh and eighth grade math classes, advising and running a homeroom, and soon became one of the most effective and valued teachers in her department.

Within less than a year, Ms. Pepper’s classes became highly sought after by students and parents alike. Her capacity to take often complex material and make it comprehensible, combined with innovative teaching techniques (converting her textbooks to overhead slides, creating weekly and bi-weekly assignment sheets, inserting Calvin and Hobbes cartoon figures almost everywhere, for example) and her capacity to work with all levels of students made her a truly great math teacher. Later in her career this included high school math, but she even branched out and taught psychology with College Guidance Director Don Dietrich.

It was not long before Ms. Pepper was “discovered” and found herself with an ever-growing array of roles. With the advent of the Middle School head class advisors, she soon took over management of the eighth grade and its teacher/advisors. This also meant responsibility for writing, scheduling, directing and virtually every other decision about the eighth grade show while teaching a full load of classes. Limiting

the disruptions for other teachers was a major challenge and great practice for helping create the Middle School class schedule each summer.

Her interest in student learning led John Newlin to ask her to chair a faculty group studying ways to help teachers and students manage learning differences.

She was instrumental in helping the Middle School devise learning profiles for students with special needs as well as in heightening the entire school faculty’s awareness of ways to integrate techniques that would ensure all students learned more effectively. So it was a logical step to appoint Ms. Pepper as assistant head of the Middle School. Ultimately, she was asked to use her expertise to oversee the entire school’s testing program and to coordinate curriculum development in all three divisions, which she did admirably. There always seemed to be additional projects that were added to her duties, and each of them benefited from her participation.

Through her 30 years at Tower Hill, Ms. Pepper was committed to making the school great. She was constantly learning as a teacher and administrator, which provided a great example. She worked for excellence with intelligence, skill and effort. Most of all, in any of her many roles, her primary concern was what would help students be successful.

—JN and HNB

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James W. Straub ’62 Years Taught: 1989-2005

Jim Straub ’62 was a Hiller from birth, as his father was the highly respected shop teacher when he was born. So, Mr. Straub was a “lifer” and graduated in the class of 1962. A fine student and three-sport athlete at Tower Hill, he was equally successful academically and playing football and baseball in college. Teaching and coaching were clearly in his blood, as he accepted a position teaching middle school math and coaching three sports at Episcopal Academy.

After 22 years, Mr. Straub “came home” when he accepted the opportunity to become the head football coach following fellow Tower Hill and Williams grad Steve Hyde ’59. Like his father, he became a highly respected and valued member of the faculty, as well as a teacher and coach whom students valued as a mentor.

Mr. Straub immersed himself in the Middle School, enthusiastically leading a homeroom and participating in the traditional activities from room decorations to Field Day. He also began a tradition that continues. He organized the Middle School faculty, and some faculty from other divisions, to do a “readers theater” version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the last Middle School assembly before the holiday break. It became an event that students and faculty alike looked forward to each year. Mr. Straub was also a terrific advisor who helped countless Middle School students but also was interested in former students and players from his teams. He had a consistent stream of Upper School students who

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sought his advice and counsel. They knew that he would be direct and honest, and they knew that he would champion them if he felt there was an error being made. He ended up acting as an advisor for Middle and Upper School students.

Mr. Straub’s effectiveness and ability to connect with Middle and Upper School students was a real asset to the Math Department. His classroom was a lively

center of learning with an atmosphere that was very relaxed, yet organized and productive. In his classes students actively participated since they knew their ideas were valued. While he taught primarily in the Middle School, he also took on an Upper School section. This group frequently contained students who did not have a great deal of confidence in their math abilities, but Mr. Straub had a knack for making the subject accessible to students at every level and, in the process, helped to build their confidence. This ability, in part, led him to offer an SAT mathematics preparation course to students from Tower Hill and outside the school, which was very successful.

Athletics of all kinds were a great love of Mr. Straub’s, but especially football, basketball and baseball.

He was an intense coach (an intensity matched by his play on the tennis court), and his teams knew that he was committed to doing the very best job that he could—and in turn expected the best from them. Advocate and critic, he inspired his players and assistant coaches at a time when the football program was having a difficult time winning. His players still worked hard, played hard and took pride in their team thanks to Mr. Straub’s leadership. He also contributed his skill as an assistant coach to the varsity baseball program. It would be remiss not to mention that his two sons, Jason ’92 and Patrick ’93, made huge contributions to the same three sports their father had played with the avid support of his wife, Patty.

modeled integrity, hard work and enthusiasm for all of his students. He always had a powerful interest in best serving the needs of the students in all his various roles, not just in math class. Students and colleagues recognized this, and he was a powerful and positive influence throughout the school.

—HNB

“Mr. Straub was one of the kindest teachers I ever had while at Tower Hill. He made math seem easy, even when it really wasn’t.

There was something about his calm demeanor and positive attitude that helped me feel relaxed in his class, and I learned so much from him.”

—Elizabeth Glen Capone ’06

Mr. Straub made huge contributions to Tower Hill during his tenure. A wonderful role model, he

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CHAPTER 4 Upper School

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Oliver Crichton

Years Taught: 1951-1983

Oliver Crichton was above all else a scientist. He was a world expert on lichen; a research associate at the University of Delaware’s marine biology laboratory in Lewes, Delaware; passionate about the science curriculum in schools; vibrant in the classroom; and anxious to inspire students to understand his discipline and perhaps become scientists themselves.

At UD he collaborated in research about Delaware’s wetlands, which produced a series of published studies. He kept numerous experiments going and life cycles changing in his lab to tempt students in after school to watch and converse about biology. Young students learned not to be afraid of snakes and to treat life, whatever its form might be, with respect.

ecosystems. He loved roughing it. On uninhabited cays, tent sites were cleared with machetes and food was hung from branches to keep it away from rats and crabs. Canvas coverings went down in heavy rain and tent poles snapped in high winds. Students also toured historic Mayan remains, encountered Mexican culture and were taught about the extreme inequality of local social systems. Mr. Crichton also led expeditions by canoe in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and guided hiking trips along the Appalachian Trail to expose students to nature while having fun. He traveled all over the world to seminars and summer programs to enhance his own knowledge and professional skills.

The building of Tower Hill’s new science wing offered him as department chair the opportunity to structure space for optimal teaching and learning. Everything he did was efficient, thorough and purposeful. The curriculum expanded into new offerings as the extra space became available. Mr. Crichton, in so many ways a mild-mannered man, was a force to be reckoned with in terms of developing a strong program.

Mr. Crichton was a gentleman and a scholar. He took a passionate interest in his subject and in his students.

His wry sense of humor and deep understanding of what it was to be a teacher made him a giant in the history of Tower Hill. In 1978 he was selected as Outstanding Delaware Biology Teacher of the Year. When he was awarded the Kitchel Chair (the first recipient), one colleague commented: “Oliver Crichton is 60—going on 35—a living example of continuing education. His boundless energy and his versatile resourcefulness are unmatched.” The origin of the word education means “to lead,” which is what Mr. Crichton did in a myriad of exciting ways and with kindness.

—EAW

Mr. Crichton loved to take students on research expeditions. For a number of years he led groups to the Caribbean to gather data for local fish and wildlife services. Snorkeling among reefs and wandering through tropical rainforests opened the eyes of his pupils to the magnificence and fragility of various

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Herbert Oviatt

Years Taught: 1954-1969

“I respected him for demanding the very best from every student. At times I almost shook upon entering his classroom, but his emphasis on vocabulary and Shakespeare served me well over the years.”

—Member of the Class of 1959

Herb Oviatt’s “mock irascibility” was a performance.

In fact, there was always a twinkle in his eye. Students spoke of his “perpetual good humor.” He mocked his own overt dourness: “Those of us who have often been labeled cruel and unreasonable pedagogues are frequently putting up a front to hide our hearts of gold.” It did not take pupils long to figure this out.

Mr. Oviatt taught senior English, started the cross country (1956) and track (1955) programs, replaced Howdy Yule as college advisor and later served as dean of the Upper School. Known for his student speech assignments, his insistence on memorization of vocabulary and his ever-present baseball bat, Mr. Oviatt’s interest in all aspects of student life made him a major presence throughout the school. He graded the speeches of juniors and seniors made at Upper School assemblies (required each year on a subject of the presenters’ choosing). These were frightening experiences for many, made memorable, however, by Mr. Oviatt’s supportiveness as a critic.

As a department chair, Mr. Oviatt continued the strong Tower Hill tradition of emphasizing grammar in English teaching. He believed mastery of mechanical skills allowed for not only effective expression but also deep thought. He loved literature and communicated his enthusiasm to students. He saw English as the central road to “a happier and fuller life.”

Mr. Oviatt was remembered by students as a constructive critic, an oracle of good advice and a teacher focused more on values and character than course content. He was as active supporting students at athletic events as he was sharing his knowledge in the classroom. Above all, he was appreciated for his understanding spirit and his friendship. He was one of the few members of the faculty to have the yearbook dedicated to him twice.

—EAW

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Jim Wood

Years Taught: 1955-1989 Great teachers often have many personae, donned like masks and revealed through a series of performances that require an audience to be willing participants as well as passive recipients. Just as the audience knows that the tragedy will end badly and a comedy happily, so students know that a teacher’s performance is just that, but by going along with it, they perpetuate “myths” that add subtly but immeasurably to school life. So it was with James Madison Wood, who over the years cultivated a number of these roles: first, the curmudgeon who is faced with the thankless task of ed-

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ucating generations of “delinquents” in the eternal but unappreciated verities, a Sisyphean labor that has occasionally provoked the immortal, “Hell! Damn! Spit!”

Among the many other hats he wore (almost all of them elegant) was the avuncular sage who has been around and seen it all before, the insurrective free spirit and the spinner of tall tales—all of these bound by the common elements of creative mischief and great good humor. For make no mistake, the mask is designed to slip; it is no accident that the curmudgeon parodies himself, that the sage has a twinkle in his eye.

So what lay behind the masks? In June 1989, Jim retires from Tower Hill. He has taught here for 34 years, not so much for the sake of the communicating of information, but because he likes and is deeply interested in students as human beings. A refreshingly wry sense of humor, intelligence without arrogance and a kind, gentle nature have made him popular not only as a teacher, but also as friend and as a particularly able Chapel (and Graduation) speaker…

develop their skills and modeled those skills in his own unique way. He could challenge and push his students more than most teachers because it was also clear that he genuinely liked and valued them. This created a level of trust between Mr. Wood and those around him. His approach was never too serious, however, as it was always developed with a keen eye for the absurdities of life and a healthy sense of humor.

This was the introduction that his two colleagues, Hugh Atkins and Ernie Savage, wrote for their article in the Tower Hill Alumni Bulletin in the summer of 1989 honoring the retirement of English and religion teacher Jim Wood. In the 13 years after his high school graduation, the range of his experiences would have taken most men a lifetime. Like a number of his colleagues hired at the time, Mr. Wood was a veteran of World War II. He left Duke University for two years of service in the Coast Guard in the South Pacific, including duty on a landing craft bringing troops to beaches under fire. Discharged in August 1945, he finished an English degree at Hamilton College and in quick succession worked in construction as a plumber, carpenter and electrician; taught English at his alma mater; earned a master’s at Columbia University; worked as a fisherman; and found Tower Hill in the fall of 1955.

Mr. Wood was unique, and his style was one that could not be copied, but he also reflected what was best about many of the great teachers at Tower Hill.

He had high expectations for himself, his students and his colleagues; and he also sincerely wanted them to succeed academically and as individuals. This his students knew. As a result, they appreciated, trusted and looked to him for guidance.

—HNB

The depth of those experiences, coupled with intelligence, openness, wonderful powers of observation, a sense of humor and an enthusiasm for life, were the bedrock on which he built his career as a teacher. Mr. Wood was exceptional because he taught students to

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Frank Ashby

Years Taught: 1956-1987 Frank Ashby was born in Painted Post, New York, and lived in Wisconsin before his English parents returned to Britain, where he grew to manhood.

During World War II, he served as a navigator in the Royal Air Force. When the war was over, he attended Oxford University and returned to the United States to teach. It was rumored he chose Tower Hill by sticking a compass point on an Esso road map and drawing a circle representing easy driving distances to horse-racing tracks. Of the institutions he was considering, our school won with six courses nearby.

Mr. Ashby was a teacher, tennis coach, advisor and department chair, headed the Cum Laude Society and served on innumerable committees. He was the organizer of the American Field Service (AFS) Program, which played a prominent role in Tower Hill life bringing students from all over the world to Wilmington to live and work for a year in our community. The AFS students had a huge influence on the school. At first they were from Europe but later came from Turkey, Thailand, Australia, Peru and other places at a time when any direct contact with such countries was a rare occurrence. Their presence changed the perception of the world for students, but it was not a program without its demands and upsets, particularly for host-family parents. Mr. Ashby was the person everyone went to when difficulties occurred, and the success of the program was due to his wisdom and unflappable calm in the midst of an issue.

As chair, he built the Language Department into one of the strongest in the school. In his final year with a senior class of only 54 students, Tower Hill produced 61 winners and top-scorers in national, regional and state language contests. But this was just one of the indications of its strength. Mr. Ashby believed that students should be able to speak and understand the languages they studied. Many schools adopted “language labs” to address this, but the labs usually were not very successful, as they demanded a good deal of extra time and effort from faculty. The “language lab” at Tower Hill, on the other hand, was extensively used. In addition, conversations were held individually between teachers and students, so there was an almost seamless and early transition to teaching students through an “immersion” method of exclusively using the target language in class. Trips departed to France and Spain regularly, and students discovered that they could communicate well thanks to the language program.

Mr. Ashby was a gentle and courteous man, but he was uncompromising in his high standards and values. Where he met student resistance to his demands in the field of tenses and irregular verbs, he bulldozed ahead regardless. This insistence on everyone giving only one’s best effort set a powerful example. He consciously but unostentatiously demonstrated what it was to be a gentleman. His colleague Jim Wood of the English Department said of him: “There’s a man who has taught all of us, directly and by example, to be civilized.”

—JW, HNB and EAW 77

Edward Hughes Years Taught: 1958-1994

A tall man, wearing glasses, green-and-white checked pants, a white shirt and, usually, a green coat and tie, stood on the middle of the finish line at Field Day holding up the colored pennants with two tightly rolled signal flags. Far from an unbiased judge, his job was to signal by waving either a green or white flag the team of each of the first three finishers in each race. The green flag was waved each time with great vigor and enthusiasm for Greens who scored, while the indication for the White Team scorers was a rather grudging, half-hearted attempt. Ed Hughes was not one who left you in doubt about his opinion, and his children were Greens.

Mr. Hughes arrived at Tower Hill in 1958 from his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, and a nine-year stint at the McDonogh School after his World War II service and graduation from Loyola College. The hardest change for Mr. Hughes, who had been an AllAmerican Lacrosse Player at Loyola, was that there was no lacrosse in Delaware, but he threw himself into coaching football and basketball. He somehow managed, with five young children, to earn a master’s degree and be heavily involved with the Republican Party in Wilmington.

His one year in the Middle School was followed by 33 in the Upper School teaching history, though he would have immediately corrected that to the “social sciences,” to which he was deeply committed. He led the History Department from 1969 until he retired,

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and in 1977 the department revamped its approach.

Mr. Hughes’ comments in a Bulletin article five years later sound remarkably modern: “ ... In determining how [the History Department] might best meet the needs of students while, at the same time, dealing with the ever-increasing amount of information and data from research, a new approach was adopted.”

The results for Mr. Hughes were senior electives in anthropology and economics, as well as the inclusion of more social sciences in the lower grades. He also encouraged the members of the department to incorporate more group work, individual projects and research, different assessment tools and technology like films and this new thing: videotape.

Many of Mr. Hughes’ ideas came from his experience in the social sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, but also from his work with “gifted and talented” students. These students, who gave evidence of high achievement capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields and the summer program he created for a group of students from the Wilmington public schools called the Junior Humanities Program, convinced Mr. Hughes that programs for gifted students were also good for nearly all students. His work earned him national recognition and a place on the board of the Governor’s School for Excellence. His passion for the pedagogical techniques was clear in his teaching and his direction of the History Department. It is

interesting that his senior electives were known to many as “Easy Eds,” but the coverage of those courses was quite remarkable. It was how he taught them that made them seem easy. However, to talk pedagogy and research alone would be a real disservice to his influence.

Mr. Hughes and Ernie Savage roaming the halls always turned up the volume, the energy and the level of enforcement of the dress code. But this common evaluation was usually delivered with a smile and: “I remember in anthropology class ... ” or “Do you remember Mr. Hughes pulling the door off the hinges in the senior room because ... ” One would have thought that the curmudgeonly approach to things disciplinary would have put students off. However, the other side of Mr. Hughes more than balanced this. He was an avid spectator at games, where his booming voice could not be missed. As a head class advisor for the senior class for years and as a dean of

students, he was a champion of students as he carried out his role. Students knew that he was honest with them and that they could trust him. The result was that he was a much sought-after advisor, a prolific writer of recommendations and the recipient of the yearbook dedication four times in four different decades!

The later yearbook dedications reflect a similar sentiment, but it is the dedication of the class of 1966 that sums up Mr. Hughes’ influence best: Above all, your singular ability to overlook the unimportant in us and see the important has made you close to us all. Your many contributions as a teacher, philosopher and friend have made a lasting impression.

You have meant something to us, Mr. Hughes.

—HNB

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“In the 1960s, David Scherer taught English to the eleventh grade. No literature course I took in college compared to the challenges or intellectual excitement of this class.”

—Penny Alderson ’63

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David Scherer David Scherer brought much interesting experience to Tower Hill upon his arrival as an Upper School English teacher in 1960. He attended St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, served in the Navy and taught at a military academy. Being a three-sport athlete at St. Andrew’s led him to coach both Middle Schoolers and at the varsity level in football, basketball, wrestling and track. While raising a young family, teaching and coaching, he also earned a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. As if that was not enough, he stepped in to replace a departing drama teacher. He was a particularly enthusiastic supporter of “American studies,” a cross-curricular program combining history and literature.

The stage in the 1919 Auditorium, which was all that existed in those days, was tiny. The lighting system amounted to a few “spots.” Finding time for rehearsals (he insisted that parts in his productions be open to varsity athletes) and performances was a constant battle. Yet, Mr. Scherer managed to produce a remarkable series of full-scale musicals. Here was ambition, courage, hard work and risk-taking at their boldest. Steps were taken to expand the size of the stage and purchase adequate lighting. The Music Department rallied to the cause. Much of the Class of 1978 and many faculty members worked hard on stage sets and auxiliary services. Together they mounted a spectacular version of Bye, Bye Birdie, followed in subsequent years by other extravaganzas that surmounted the inadequacies of the theater: Once Upon a Mattress, Brigadoon, Carousel, Oklahoma!,

Years Taught: 1960-1987

The Boy Friend and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The “Birdie” performers and the veterans of other productions would remember their experiences in Scherer musicals as among the best fun they ever had. His ambitious agenda produced a life-enhancing sense of comradeship and accomplishment. He also produced shows casting faculty, alumni and parents.

Mr. Scherer took a sabbatical to hone his theatrical teaching skills. Characteristically, he threw himself into a drama program at West Chester University with abandon. He got to perform as well as direct and learned “a good deal about stage fright.” He wrote about his experience: “Whether he wants to or not—whether or not he thinks his program, or his course, or his department can survive without him, for a year or six months—every teacher should be made to ‘close the store’ and go ‘a-fishing.’ Sabbaticals should not be made available; they should be made mandatory.”

Mr. Scherer was aware that the value of involving a large proportion of Upper School students and faculty in his productions went well beyond mere fun. They taught such life skills as public speaking, self-confidence, organization and teamwork. He was bringing the whole school together. He spoke of his intention of “fostering a truly authentic school spirit.” Mr. Scherer brought gifted teaching, marvelous organizational abilities, a great sense of humor and, above all, quiet devotion to Tower Hill School.

—EAW

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Jim Ten Broeck Years Taught: 1966-1988

Jim Ten Broeck had a wide variety of experience at several other independent schools when he arrived at Tower Hill. He had taught, coached several sports and held multiple administrative positions, including assistant headmaster, in both day and boarding schools. This breadth was unusual for most of the faculty at the time, and it gave him a broad vision of independent education that he continued to cultivate and share during his time at Tower Hill.

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Mr. Ten Broeck also brought a sharp intellect that had been honed at Princeton, where he earned his B.A. in history (cum laude) and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia. He added to this graduate work at the University of Delaware, Harvard and Stanford University on a Coe Fellowship. Continuing his own education was important to Mr. Ten Broeck, who had a deep interest in the future of education and its implications for teaching. This also drove him to action.

Mr. Ten Broeck was an excellent history teacher. An early adherent of what was known as the “inquiry method,” he had an uncanny ability to ask questions that demanded control of factual material and an ability to analyze it. This drove students to search further, and his classes were rich with discussions about current topics and how they were rooted in the historical past. His classes were demanding, but the demands were always tempered with the understanding and wisdom of a true mentor. This was driven by his belief in the importance of teaching history and the other humanities. At a time when there was a great deal of focus on preparing students for occupations, especially in the sciences, he noted that it was short sighted as one had little idea what the job market would be like in five years. However, he also added: “The trend indicates a growing provincialism amongst Americans at the very time when the United States most needs to understand the values, cultures and histories of not only its European friends and foes, but also of the emerging world.”

He felt one of the antidotes was high-quality instruction, and so he served as president of the Delaware Council of the Social Studies for two years, and later as the president of the Independent School Teachers Association of the Philadelphia area. The latter group was dedicated to providing professional development opportunities for teachers. He wanted the best teaching possible, and he believed that it was critical to the future.

Broeck’s major roles was that of director of college guidance. Here, too, he served as president of the Potomac and Chesapeake Association of College Admissions Counselors and was recognized after his tenure for his service to students in college guidance.

But to Tower Hill students and parents, what really mattered was his ability to help them at this critical moment. Their experience was of someone who gave knowledgeable answers, gentle and cautious guidance, and support. He was always honest, even when this was difficult for students and parents. But his integrity over 20 years in the position had earned him the respect of college admissions offices and an honesty in their responses to him that allowed him to help suggest the best colleges to meet a student’s interests and ability.

Mr. Ten Broeck was a significant leader of the educational program at Tower Hill with broad view of American education. This with his other skills might have led to a bit of arrogance; quite to the contrary, he was most remembered for his cheery demeanor, his wonderful laugh and the joy he got from his colleagues and his occupation. He was an educational leader and a scholar, but most of all he was a teacher.

—HNB

His interest in the preparation of students had a practical as well as an idealistic side, as one of Mr. Ten

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Above: Bob Duprez, left, in costume for a faculty production of Guys and Dolls in 1987. Left: Bob Duprez’s photo in the 1987 yearbook.

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Bob Duprez

Years Taught: 1972-2003 Bob Duprez bounded through the halls of Tower Hill. “High energy” hardly does justice in describing someone so full of ideas and enthusiasm that even bouncy young students had trouble keeping up with him. Yet he never gave the impression of being manic.

He always had a purpose and a plan. He began as a Middle School French and Spanish teacher and ended his career as chair of the Language Department. He also coached Middle School cross country, basketball and baseball.

Mr. Duprez saw his job as far more than just teaching students grammar and vocabulary. For him the whole point of learning a second language was to acquire a passport to a different culture. That meant that you became a citizen of the world. Learning Spanish involved throwing yourself into the history of not just Iberia but of South and Central America and any place else that spoke the language. It meant immersing yourself in the food, music, art, literature, film and everything else of the new mother tongue.

He wanted Spanish-speaking students to visit Tower Hill, and he wanted his own students to travel to other lands where they could hone their speech and knowledge of culture. He was also an advocate of including Latin American studies in the History Department curriculum. He was not so much interested in new techniques of teaching languages as he was in total immersion, and by that he meant

embracing a different way of thinking and living.

Personal enrichment, widening of horizons and living a fuller life were what Mr. Duprez aimed for.

Mr. Duprez was friendly, open and kind. He reached out to fellow faculty members, whatever their subject, and included them in his expansive view of the world.

He organized expeditions to drama productions and restaurants. He sought authentic experiences and fun.

He was always skeptical of things that glittered but lacked substance. His management of the American Field Service (AFS) program was successful not only because he believed strongly in its educational value, but also because he was supportive and caring.

In his later years Mr. Duprez embraced the Portuguese language and Brazil, which drew him more and more frequently to distant shores.

Eventually, he lived there a good deal of the year.

The degree to which his students could see the world through the transformative vision of world citizenship was his measure of success. Many Tower Hill students came to understand that vision, with its joys and responsibilities. That was his great legacy.

—EAW and HNB

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Jack Smith

Years Taught: 1976-present

Jack Smith’s unprecedented tenure as a teacher, coach and administrator at Tower Hill is a story not just of persistence and energy but also of loyalty to the school, brilliance in the classroom, devotion to students and adherence to exemplary standards of personal conduct and integrity. He teaches with chalk and blackboard but also models behavior in ways that raise the bar for student conduct to the highest level.

Mr. Smith’s mastery of problem solving has been of huge service to Tower Hill in his role as scheduler.

Inevitably, new concepts about arranging the academic day come and go. Each time a new proposal came along, Mr. Smith laid out the intricate mechanics of the schedule, anticipated the problems and presented the advantages. This has made it easier for everyone to move forward and achieve workable solutions. He also takes infinite pains to try to allow every student to take all the classes they hoped for.

Mr. Smith has a good sense of humor and a welldeveloped taste for the ridiculous, which is important when working with young people. At times he may seem a bit austere. Usually that is a sign that he is taking a matter very seriously. What many people do not, perhaps, know is how thoroughly he studies the needs of each student he encounters. One day when he was reminiscing about his early experiences, more than 40 years ago at Tower Hill, he described the students in his first math classes. He remembered every name, and he remembered in which chairs they sat. This was not just a demonstration of a strong

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memory, but of a man passionate about his teaching and devoted to his pupils. This encyclopedic memory also comes into play in his teaching, as his ability to remember students’ and groups’ particular strengths and weaknesses allows this master teacher to adjust to their needs. One only has to ask one of Mr. Smith’s students about the quality of his classes or what it is like to go for extra help to realize his ability to set the bar high, but also to adjust to the individual needs of the students.

Mr. Smith’s memory and facility with numbers was also a real asset when it came to coaching cross country and track. He followed the Tower Hill legend Bob Behr, which was not an easy task, but his ability again to adjust to individual students’ talents with carefully organized practices and personalized goals made him a very successful coach. His skills were also rapidly absorbed into Field Day, where he has become the authority at the finish line of the dashes.

Just as including him in Field Day was an obvious move, so was making Mr. Smith the mathematics chairperson. The range of his knowledge about mathematics education and his specific knowledge of the Tower Hill program coupled with organization and good judgment made him a logical choice. Not surprisingly, his contributions at department chair meetings were knowledgeable, insightful, carefully considered and, as you might expect, had a significant influence on discussions. His good judgment and organization also meant that he was tapped to be a

dean of students for a number of years, which he did with equal skill.

Mr. Smith’s tenure adds to a long family connection to Tower Hill. His wife, Melva, is a 1972 graduate, and her parents, Bill and Melva Carveth, were long-serving and highly respected members of the faculty (music and school nurse, respectively).

These connections, along with the passage of his own children through the school, give Mr. Smith a

mastery over all things Tower Hill that is exceptional.

“Ask Jack” is the usual response for any historical question. The length of Mr. Smith’s tenure at Tower Hill is actually one of the least amazing aspects of his service to the school. As an exceptional teacher, advisor, coach and administrator who cares deeply about his students, colleagues and the school, he is the quintessential and probably unsurpassable Tower Hill teacher.

—EAW and HNB

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Cameron Griffin Years Taught: 1977-1993

Cameron Griffin joined the Tower Hill community in 1977. She had been teaching mathematics at Alexis I. du Pont High School, but accepted a position to teach in the Upper School. Ms. Griffin quickly became a prodigious contributor to Tower Hill. She was a demanding and generous teacher; a homeroom and head class advisor; a superb individual student advisor; a department chair; a dean of students; a

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supporter of student activities; and a champion of the staff.

One of her great contributions to Tower Hill was as a role model. Ms. Griffin became one of the very few female department chairs in the school’s history when she took over this leadership position of the Math Department three years after her arrival. Ms. Griffin

immediately put her stamp on the department. She encouraged her colleagues to go to conferences and seminars, at one point taking the whole department to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conference when it was held nearby. She was also an enthusiastic champion for including new technologies in math instruction. Under her leadership the department developed a schoolwide scope and sequence, which included enthusiastic support from the Lower School. The result was a curriculum that met the latest national standards and provided a platform for continued growth.

Beyond that, the Math Department sent out periodic questionnaires to alumni asking if they had been properly prepared and soliciting suggestions for improvement.

One of Ms. Griffin’s mantras was balance. It showed in her work in her department, and it showed as she acted as a head class advisor and dean. She expected the students to behave appropriately, and she was ready to respond strongly if the need arose, but she was also willing to listen to what students had to say and to modify a response if the circumstances warranted it. The students also knew that Ms. Griffin wanted them to be leaders and to stand up for what was right—and that she would support them. The result was that they trusted her implicitly. It did not matter if the issue was a disciplinary response, a debate over the site of the prom, difficulty in a course or with a teacher, or a personal or family problem, you could trust Ms. Griffin. As a result, many students when reflecting on their years at Tower Hill begin their stories with, “Well, if it wasn’t for Ms. Griffin …”

However, one cannot end the conversation about Ms. Griffin without recognizing one other area. Her husband, Bob, served as the school’s business manager, and “Cammie and Bob” (they were definitely a team) supported the Tower Hill community. As parents of three students, they were regular and enthusiastic fans of the sports teams and the drama program. But what many people did not know or see was their support for colleagues and the “behind-the-scenes” workers—the staff. Ms. Griffin understood the myriad of daily tasks that it took to run a school and that understanding coupled with many kind words of encouragement meant a great deal.

Lest one think that the Griffins, given all the responsibilities and the huge number of hours that they devoted to Tower Hill, were simply thralls to the job, one need only hear the countless wonderful stories told by both of them. Most of these stories ended with laughter frequently because of something that one of the Griffins had done.

Ms. Griffin retired happily in 1993 to North Carolina to be closer to family, and she left a tremendous legacy. She was an exceptional faculty member, a role model to everyone, especially young women, and a person to be emulated. She always kept a broad view and a balanced approach in everything she did.

—HNB

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“People WANTED to read for JR’s classes, because they knew he WANTED to hear their ideas. Not in any condescending way. He never stopped enjoying film, literature and music.”

—Ciara Kehoe ’96 As you entered Mr. Robinson’s classroom, the music softly rocked; so did the teacher. Both made students feel relaxed and safe. Mr. Robinson evoked the lowest possible reading on the threat level register. That did not mean, however, that his courses were dull.

Whether the assignment was a majestic (and very long) Russian novel of the 19th century or a short, perky poem, the teacher had something interesting to say, and students were drawn into the magic of literature.

Mr. Robinson laughed a lot, but he was deadly serious about the importance of education. He was full of the zest of life, but he risked everything to be a Freedom Rider. He was constantly challenging the unthinking assumptions of the inexperienced and those oblivious to the world outside their comfort zones—in the nicest possible way. “Mind-blowing” was the adjective students chose to describe his classes.

Mr. Robinson was one of the few teachers in the school’s history to earn three yearbook dedications. In one of them the students emphasized that, “He always has an ear to lend or a word of higher intelligence to offer.” In another, they thanked him for “showing us that ‘new thoughts are always significant.’” While he was fundamentally an optimist, his ironic laughter at the absurdities of life often had a gravelly undertone of sadness that people could be so stupid or uncaring.

John Robinson

Years Taught: 1981-2017

Mr. Robinson was dedicated to lost causes such as heroic support of the Boston Red Sox in the years when the “Curse of the Bambino” was at its height, and he also fought to ensure that no struggling student would end up like his baseball team. His years as speedball coach gave him insights into kids he might not otherwise have gained and offered an opportunity for the non-athletes or those busy with other activities to fulfill their sports requirement. Mr. Robinson was a free spirit, a voice of empathy, a font of reason and a deeply generous friend and mentor.

His compassion was always accompanied by words of wisdom, messages that all of us learned were worthy of deep consideration.

Mr. Robinson, in the words of a student, was a “keystone” of Tower Hill. His presence was powerful and irreplaceable. His passion for literature, films and music opened the eyes of generations of students to worlds they had never known or barely glimpsed. He turned their enthusiasm for popular movies or punk rock into a deeper understanding and love for films

by Bergman or Kubrick and for New Orleans jazz.

His faculty colleagues also benefited from his deep knowledge. Ms. Tjersland called him her “cosmic DJ” because he could always find the perfect song to match her mood.

Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson!

—EAW

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“Mr. Atkins completely changed how I read, and as a result, how I saw the world. His courses opened my mind to the big questions—what it means to be a person, to struggle, to triumph, to care. I owe so much of how I understand myself and how I relate to others to his teaching. I majored in English in college and still reflect back on his courses as some of the best I have ever taken. I am so lucky to have learned from him—thank you!”

—Gaby Dressler ’10

“During my time at Tower Hill, no one believed in and inspired me more than Mr. Atkins. He gave me an appreciation for reading, art and music. His teaching and thoughtfulness were invaluable in the later parts of my life and career.”

—Jon Gabriel ’09

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Hugh Atkins

Years Taught: 1982-2013 Hugh Atkins first came to Tower Hill in 1982 as chair of the Drama Department for one year while David Scherer took a sabbatical. A graduate of Cambridge, he previously taught in London and at Wellington College before undertaking his foray to America as an exchange teacher. The experience was so successful, for both parties, that he returned in 1985 as chair of the English Department, where he spent the remainder of his career.

Mr. Atkins was a passionate and brilliant teacher in the classroom, but that and his administrative role hardly defined what he achieved both at Tower Hill and in the larger community. His many talents as a teacher, writer, director and artist greatly enriched Wilmington. He seemed to be everywhere, leading the start-up theater company TASCH Productions, fostering the work of Kuumba Academy, exhibiting his collages at the DCCA (where he maintains a studio) or writing and directing a school drama production incorporating spectacular masks whose origins lay in a sabbatical he spent in Bali.

Students remembered a demanding teacher who had very strict standards about handing in late papers and on rules of grammar, who was also a wise and sympathetic advisor. His office accommodated a steady stream of students and faculty seeking advice on almost every topic imaginable. “Tough but

awesome” was how one student described him. “Lifechanging” judged another. They regularly spoke of his teaching “how” to think, not what to think.

Mr. Atkins helped implement a radical revision of the English curriculum in the junior and senior years that led to a wide offering of stimulating electives with wonderfully engaging titles such as “Planet Waves,” “Is You Is” and “Sea of Words.” These courses were in contrast to the surveys for younger students that laid the foundation for deeper discovery and mastery focused on a particular period, technique or theme.

The overriding emphasis of the new courses was on “the cultivation of careful thought.” He summed up his philosophy of education by saying it was all about “learning how to acquire compassion and wisdom.”

There is a myth about a seeker of “truth,” who, after much difficulty, comes across an ancient and wrinkled oracle embodying what he sought. “Truth” sends the man back into the world with the message: “Tell them I am young and beautiful.” Thankfully, Mr. Atkins is still spry and by no means heavily wrinkled, but his students will remember both the truth he taught and how wonderful the journey was to discovery. Young and vibrant at heart, a disrupter and a traditionalist, a lover of jazz and cricket, a kind and loyal friend of students, Hugh Atkins rocked.

—EAW

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Don Dietrich, center, with Elliott Mitchell and Joe Smolko.

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Don Dietrich

Years Taught: 1988-2011 Mr. Dietrich’s service in Vietnam never left him.

Thenceforward he brought a seriousness of purpose to his life that made him formidable. This was tempered, however, by his tremendous sense of humor and a wonderful affability that students and colleagues found warm and engaging. He was laid back, yet totally in command. His self-confidence inspired confidence.

Students instantly understood that in Mr. Dietrich they had a friend. He knew everybody, and he knew almost everything about everybody. Yet, this was not threatening. His classes in psychology were hugely popular, and his mentorship in the terrifying process of college admission was deeply appreciated.

Mr. Dietrich never sugar-coated anything. His field trip to the local prison was a scary experience for students that left long-lasting impressions. The point was not about teaching kids to keep their noses clean; it was to expose them to the reality of dangerous and desperate people and make them ask, “How did the inmates come to be who they were?” Similarly, Mr. Dietrich organized a Veterans Day reading of the names of service men and women killed in America’s recent wars. He was certainly interested in honoring the fallen, but he was also intent on reminding Tower Hill students that American kids their own age were getting blown up by roadside bombs and engaging

in life and death shootouts in Afghanistan while they were all safe in Wilmington.

The angst over applying to college has become greater over the years. It was once a pretty simple and straightforward process. Gradually, it became more and more complicated. Mr. Dietrich had an extraordinary depth of knowledge, including tenure as a dean at a highly competitive college where Tower Hill students often aspired to go. He stayed closely connected with his colleagues both at the secondary and higher levels. This knowledge gave students confidence. He guided them with an extraordinary combination of expertise and empathy.

Mr. Dietrich loved to coach (football was fun, but golf was best). He enjoyed chatting, he followed the news closely and he derived great satisfaction from placing students not in the most prestigious college but the one in which they were most likely to flourish. Tower Hill is a tight-knit community. That does not happen by accident. Certain teachers become the glue that binds us all together. Don Dietrich was one of the most significant people during his years of service in making the school a genuine family.

—EAW

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Oremia Caimi

Years Taught: 1989-2017 “Zut alors!” Oh dear, the phrase is French! But that is OK. Ms. Caimi can speak that language, too, and the drama of the expression suits her mood sometimes (well, maybe a lot of the time). Exuberant, animated, vibrant, swashbuckling, rococo and resplendent are all words that come to mind as one watched this great teacher and friend of students at work, whether in her classroom or in the halls. As tenth grade advisor she did not “run” homeroom, she “presided,” ruling with an iron glove concealing a velvet fist.

One might not think that “Señora” was always friendly. There was definitely a bark. Her exaggerated despair when students failed to live up to her expectations could be swaggering. Yet there was never a teacher at Tower Hill who worked harder on behalf of an advisee up against a discipline board. No teacher cared more passionately about her pupils finding success. The baying, woofing and yelping masked deep empathy and highly developed professional skills devoted to the service of students.

Cuba! The island was always in Ms. Caimi’s thoughts.

Its culture and memory shaped her life. Her family’s experiences and those of the Cuban people in exile made her extra sympathetic as a teacher to those in trouble or who were lost. She brought her life experiences to the classroom though film, dialogue and language. That was an education in itself for her students.

Ms. Caimi worked hard behind the scenes. Her long service on the Admission Committee was little known. She was a pillar of the Faculty Fund to Aid Students. She knitted together support structures for advisees who were flailing. With uncharacteristic quiet, she labored to make life better for everyone.

This was paired with tsunami-level outrage with a student who had the temerity to peel an orange within 20 yards of her lunch table, casting the dreaded scent of citrus in her direction. Woe betide the student or colleague who sneezed inside that 20yard zone. Surely, they had the plague. Where was the disinfectant? Dark murmurings about “boxes of rocks” could be heard after a quiz did not go so well.

Many students had never encountered someone with genuine (and cultivated) eccentricities on the scale exhibited by Señora. Her dramatic approach to teaching and life made her classes vivid, memorable and appealing. Some “got it” immediately. Others took a while to grasp what was going on. In the end her students not only learned Spanish well but with pleasure and much laughter.

—EAW

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Ellis A. Wasson, Ph.D. Years Taught: 1991-2014

One of the great gifts a teacher can contribute to a school is to be a scholar, especially an active one, and a scholar who is also a superb educator enriches the intellectual life of the whole school immeasurably. But what is rarer is to combine this with a deep concern for and joy in working with students. Dr. Ellis A. Wasson was one of those remarkable educators.

Dr. Wasson arrived from Shady Side Academy with an already impressive résumé: two degrees from Johns Hopkins, a doctorate from Cambridge University,

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numerous published articles, a book, a growing role in the Advanced Placement program and as an expert in his field. He had been a leader in two schools and had been head of the Upper Division at Shady Side Academy before Tower Hill. More accomplishments accumulated over the years. The school and his students took pride in having such a distinguished teacher, and he published five books over his time at Tower Hill. His students frequently said, “He knows everything,” but that was not what they spoke to first when asked about “Doc Wass.”

Students told those following them that Dr. Wasson’s course was “one you had to take,” that he was a great teacher, “the smartest man I ever met” and “he will teach you to think,” reflecting his ability to challenge and support. Effort was essential to be successful, and with effort a level of success was possible for students of varied abilities and ages, briefly including sixth grade. No matter their age, students found his class challenging, interesting and fun. He had a talent for finding the right illustrative story. For example, students from a tenth grade class early in the day would tell their peers: “Ask him about … It was really cool.”

Their interest made it possible for him to work hard on research and writing, skills that required that students hone their analytical skills as well. Skills students could apply to discussions about world and local events or in other courses. Many students became very interested in what was happening in the world for the first time.

The interest generated in a broad array of topics led to a tremendous educational gift.

In large measure because of Dr. Wasson’s remarkable teaching skills, but also his leadership of the History Department, the Forum Speaker Series was born. It was an exceptional addition bringing speakers of local, national and international prominence to the Upper School. His knowledge, leadership and organization made it a remarkable extension of the program. It also reflected Dr. Wasson’s own interest in helping students to be aware of and grapple with significant topics. It was also illustrative of his abiding interest in students as leaders. He wanted the topics to be of interest to students, and to that end he created a student group to help select the topic each year.

Former Head of Upper School and Assistant Head of School Dan Hickey, Ed.D., spoke to Upper School students and faculty on the occasion of Dr. Wasson’s retirement and said: “If there were a Mount Rushmore for Tower Hill teachers, it is very safe to say that Dr. Ellis Wasson would be on it. Rarely does one find a combination of utmost erudition and kindness; unquestioned knowledge and empathy. You know him as a master teacher in the classroom, but he has also been an untiring advocate for students and making sure their voices and perspectives are represented in everything we do at the faculty and administrative levels. We have speakers in the Forum series he oversees that are renowned experts in their fields, but somehow they still pale in comparison to the stature Dr. Wasson has attained. We never could get him to put on a pair of Levi’s during a jeans day, but his attire is yet one more example of the class and dignity he brought to Tower Hill every day for the last 23 years.”

—HNB

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CHAPTER 5 The Arts

“Cal limited his preaching to one subject: excellence in music. During our country’s troubled 1960s, he demonstrated—subtly but, for me, effectively— his personal values and commitment to working toward peace, justice and a better world for all.”

—Dave Cundiff ’70

Calvin Bourgeault Years Taught: 1951-1977

In 1950 incoming Headmaster Brooke Stabler, a clergyman by profession, was determined to upgrade the vocal and instrumental music program at Tower Hill. He found two outstanding teachers to accomplish his ambition. Calvin Bourgeault, a graduate of the Temple Music Education program, was hired in 1951, and his classmate, Bill Carveth, in 1952. Transformative and transcendent are words too weak to describe their impact on the school.

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From early days Tower Hill had a school hymn and a hymnal from which students selected songs to sing, which Headmaster Stabler used to delight in conducting at the opening of morning assemblies. A vocal tradition existed, but it was Mr. Bourgeault who carried it to remarkable new levels of achievement.

He claimed that he was “loaded with enthusiasm and high ideals, but with an abysmal lack of knowledge concerning how to implement them.” No one

need have worried. He formed Upper and Middle School choruses, a male quartet, and directed and produced Gilbert and Sullivan musicals as well as teaching the Middle School music appreciation classes. Later, he partnered with Harry Patterson to produce modern musicals such as Bye, Bye Birdie.

These shows were miracles in adapting to the small stage and non-existent orchestra pit of the old auditorium. Mr. Carveth’s groups would support the vocal performances. The Upper School chorus performed with the Philadelphia “Singing City.” In 1964 Tower Hill provided a children’s choir for a series of performances of Stravinsky’s Persephone with the composer conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia, New York and Washington. A number of alumni went on to careers in music and to win awards. Many others continued to sing or play instruments in amateur groups or for their own pleasure all their lives.

Mr. Bourgeault started the tradition of the annual eighth grade show. He drew students into the process of writing, producing and staging their own musicals. This program carried on the spirit of the Headmaster Burton P. Fowler years, “learning by doing,” but also it unleashed the creativity of a great teacher. A former student compared him to the Wizard of Oz, but nothing was fake or hidden. The quality of Tower Hill singers during the Bourgeault years was legendary. The annual Spring Concert transmogrified into a weeklong “Festival of Music.”

Mr. Bourgeault’s passion, which swept his students forward, was captured in his credo issued in 1956.

Music was “another tongue for Tower Hill; another

way of saying the thousands of things that need to be said and understood … We know that we are often not understood. But in our trying, we discover one truth we express in every feeble attempt. That truth is that we make music together. Each grueling, sweaty rehearsal, each tense and exciting performance, is a renewal of our bonds of friendship and, in a larger way, a reaffirmation of our membership in the family of Man.” In the dedication of their yearbook, the Class of 1964 praised many of Mr. Bourgeault’s qualities. Above all he inspired them “by sharing yourself with us in such a meaningful way, you have made all our lives richer.”

He had “worked unselfishly to give us some of the most memorable experiences of our lives.”

Mr. Carveth stayed on at Tower Hill until retirement, while Cal Bourgeault sought a new challenge in 1977 departing for Friends Select School in Philadelphia.

Along with Mr. Carveth, he left a powerful legacy in establishing a tradition of a strong music program, recently given a new and handsome building to continue the joint work of these master teachers in the school’s second century.

—EAW

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James H. Straub

Years Taught: 1952-1974

Holder of one of the treasured positions at Tower Hill, James H. “Jim” Straub replaced Newton Mount in 1952 to become the second shop teacher in the school’s history. In a sign of the times, only boys took shop during his early tenure, but he helped lay the foundations of a program that would become a requirement for all students in the Lower and Middle Schools. It was and is a program cherished by generations of Tower Hill alumni.

Over 60 years later, many of his students remember the skills and the values that were imparted. This was partially due to Mr. Straub’s uncanny knack of challenging students in appropriate ways based on their skills. Certainly, the fact that there were no grades in shop and students tended to enjoy the activity made this a bit easier. Nevertheless, even students who identified themselves as not very talented remembered learning the skills of measuring, planning a project and working with tools that were a real asset later in life. They also remembered Mr. Straub’s appreciation for the effort put into a piece of work, which was as important as the final product, and yet there was no doubt that the goal was to produce something of high quality. It was equally clear that producing a quality piece was a collaborative process. Mr. Straub’s approach was that of a mentor helping each student at their level of expertise to produce an end product they could be proud of. Shop class was purposeful and relaxed in every way but one. There was an unquestioned emphasis on safety that all of Mr. Straub’s students remembered and appreciated, as they looked back later in life.

While there are alumni who have equally positive memories of taking mechanical drawing with Mr. Straub in their senior year, the vast majority of recollections are about shop. There were “famous” projects that were repeated year after year to rave reviews. Very few Tower Hill homes were not the proud possessors of a step stool emblazoned on the top with the initials of the student craftsmen who produced it, but there were spectacular projects accomplished by older students. Mr. Straub was a maker of fine furniture, and he passed his considerable skills on. Upper School students crafted beautiful bowls, boxes, shelves and cabinets, which became treasured family heirlooms. Mr. Straub helped students expand their natural talents if they were ready to challenge themselves. He was equally generous with his time and talents and encouraging to his colleagues. He opened the shop one night a week for faculty whom he helped with their personal projects.

Mr. Straub produced a wonderful atmosphere for learning in his classes, and his students remember him as a kind man with great patience. He worked diligently. He was a loyal supporter of the school, a dedicated family man and a positive role model for his students. For 20 years, he was one of the mainstays of the faculty. Dedicated to excellence, supportive and genuinely concerned about his students, he helped create the atmosphere that led to a great school fondly remembered by alumni.

—HNB

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“What a love. No man has loved so many students more diligently than Mr. Carveth. And who doesn’t remember: Ladies and Jellybeans. He taught us music, manners, unconditional love, a love of music, patience, tolerance and life skills galore.”

—E. Talley Brown ’81

Bill Carveth pictured with students and his wife, Melva.

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Bill Carveth

Years Taught: 1952-1988

Along with his colleague Cal Bourgeault, also a neophyte teacher, Bill Carveth was a perfect agent to implement Headmaster Brooke Stabler’s plan to expand and improve the music program at Tower Hill. Both could work with any age group, and both inspired enthusiasm even among those not naturally talented in the field. The two men worked under difficult physical conditions, which Mr. Carveth had gotten used to while serving in the Army at the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. Adding a tuba player to the band placed great stress on the rehearsal space for the remaining players, while Mr. Carveth had to conduct with his back literally pressed against the wall. Only in 1967 was a proper space for music finally achieved when Pierre du Pont spearheaded the construction of the Stabler Building. The headmaster was honored in brick and slate, but the program that justified the expenditure was built by two great teachers.

larger chorus. He plunged into the Lower School music program, which soon became a recruiting ground for his upper level groups and also effective in its own right. He prided himself on innovative techniques and a low-pressure atmosphere. He worked effectively to gain the trust of children so that he could teach them to enunciate and project their voices as well lead them to better appreciation of the arts.

Mr. Carveth taught instrumental music and started the first stage band at Tower Hill. Soon competition was hot for each chair in his ensemble that played at pep rallies, dances, football games and Field Day. Spring concerts were held in the gym, and the program was so exciting that parents, teachers and students stood up and danced to the music. Soon concerts were being held in Rodney Square and other public venues. Mr. Carveth also organized a string group so that musicians not in the band could have the opportunity to perform.

One alumna remembered, Bill Carveth “taught me as much about life as he did his subject.” This is a sentiment regularly associated with great teachers who open their hearts and share their lives with students in a way that empowers and uplifts. The presentation of the Kitchel Chair to Mr. Carveth in 1986 honored the quality of the teaching of his subject and the example of his life. Along with Mr. Bourgeault, he also left a powerful legacy in the tradition of a strong music program, recently given a new and handsome building to continue the joint work of these master teachers in the school’s second century.

—EAW

Mr. Carveth also conducted a vocal ensemble composed of voices drawn from Mr. Bourgeault’s

Mr. Carveth also founded the Tower Hill Tintinnabulators. His wife, Melva, who served for 23 years as school nurse (making, along with their daughter, Melva ’74, and her husband, Jack Smith of the Math Department, the family deeply dyed green) was a bell ringer. She supported her husband’s Lower School productions as wardrobe manager (and could also provide emergency first aid).

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Gail Della Pelle Years Taught: 1977-1994

Tower Hill has been fortunate to have had strong female leaders whose impact on the school has been significant. From Cecile Buckles and Eleanor Norris, to Bobbette Mason, Cameron Griffin and Betty Richardson, they have helped to shape Tower Hill. Gail Della Pelle certainly is a noteworthy member of that esteemed group. She arrived as a part-time photography teacher in 1977 and departed in 1994, as the seemingly irreplaceable art/photography teacher, yearbook advisor, chair of the Art Department and eloquent champion of the arts in education at Tower Hill and beyond.

The arts have always been a part of Tower Hill, but in 1977 when Mrs. Della Pelle arrived, the Art Department had been working hard to raise the visual arts to the level of expertise and recognition that the Music Department had achieved under Bill Carveth and Cal Bourgeault. It was a daunting task to say the least. Mrs. Della Pelle picked up the challenge when she became chair and convinced a hesitant group of academic department chairs that the visual arts deserved equal status with the other academic disciplines. The 1989 Delaware Art Educator of the Year, her arguments were founded in educational research, expressed persuasively and with clarity. However, Mrs. Della Pelle’s commitment was more catholic, and it was not just the visual arts she was championing. It was all of the arts. At that moment at Tower Hill, the

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arts were the visual arts and music, but Mrs. Della Pelle foresaw a time when theater and dance would be included. The result of her efforts constituted a curriculum that included the arts as a core element at all levels, including giving them an equal priority as scheduling was done. She also saw the arts as a vehicle to promote diversity.

The art curriculum spurred by Mrs. Della Pelle reached beyond the traditional Western art world to include African and Asian art. Her commitment was a catalyst for a spectacular evening that showcased Indian dance, art, textiles and culture with the help of an enthusiastic parent community. Students were also exposed to African American and Native American artists.

To her students, Mrs. Della Pelle was a superb teacher.

A true artist in her own right, she was a passionate and thoughtful teacher of photography. She taught students the craft but also to look at the world through an artist’s lens. She welcomed her students to the Photo Lab as if they were artists entering their domain. She made them feel welcome, supported and capable of creating beautiful art there. She not only made them feel safe and smart in that space, but they learned all aspects of the art of photography. They learned how to compose a photograph, how to see the light and the shadows, and then the chemistry of developing those images in the dark room. That

was the real art of photography with “Mrs. DP,” and it was where she excelled. She loved teaching about the different chemicals and washes, and her students learned how to make their photographs come alive.

She encouraged them to play, to experiment, and, for many, it was the place they felt most like a scientist!

The students were encouraged to try different filters, different contrast techniques, and they burned some photos, one remembered, “into cool, creative pieces.

Some bombed, and some were fantastic, but she was always there to encourage us to try and to be okay if it turned out badly. Mrs. DP was so enthusiastic! She was fiery and fun, and she gestured with her arms and made great faces as she looked at our work. But the most important thing was that Mrs. Della Pelle cared about us and treated us with respect, as if we were all budding artists. She believed in us and always pushed us to believe in ourselves.”

—HNB and TP

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Trina Tjersland

Years Taught: 1987-2013

Has Elvis left the building? Nobody but Trina Tjersland knows for sure, and she is not telling. Her fascination with Presley, as with so many other things, made Ms. Tjersland a joy to work with or study under. Exuberance does not even begin to describe her approach to life. She bubbled and frothed with ideas and projects. She was an excellent actress in her own right and brought out the innate talents of her students. She was also a wonderful mimic (Bette Midler comes to mind) but never in the aid of ridicule or cruelty. Though her humor could have an edge, it was usually self-deprecating and never meanspirited. Ms. Tjersland was a force of nature and a force for good.

Ms. Tjersland worked well with students of all ages.

She was a Pied Piper with little ones, who were gleeful in her company, and she could talk about the most serious personal and professional topics with older students. Although she was always on the go, she took time to teach students mindfulness and how to slow down. Sometimes her classroom was littered with prone bodies flopped on the floor (it looked like a battlefield), as Ms. Tjersland led a session in relaxation techniques where suspended animation was achieved.

Ms. Tjersland was a strong advocate for the new Arts Center. After it was built, the stage and auditorium became a thriving playhouse where incredibly

ambitious productions of classics and comedies, musicals and tragedies, Shakespeare and Moliere, Wilder and Ionesco stretched the range of Tower Hill students and her skills as a director. She was never afraid to take risks, such as putting on Equus or The Laramie Project. Her shows were hugely successful and swept everyone up in the fun. Careful planning went into her “Four-Year Plans” designed to give students who participated in drama over the full course of their Upper School years as wide a range of experiences as possible. In her rehearsal room she worked with students to hone their skills in improvisation, and along with the excitement of preparing for a play came discipline and much sage advice.

At Graduation, department chairs take a minute or two to sum up the qualities of students who have won awards. Ms. Tjersland’s pronouncements were notorious for their length, two or three times as long as those of even her most loquacious colleagues. Headmasters could be seen tapping their feet somewhat impatiently as the chair of the Drama Department waxed on and on. Nothing was more characteristic of her than these tributes. They embodied Ms. Tjersland’s generosity, her eloquence, her disregard for convention and her enthusiasm for kids and for the art of acting. And we loved her for it.

—EAW

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CHAPTER 6 Coaches

1920 field hockey team.

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Ellen “Baldy” Baldwin

Years Taught: 1919-1942

Ellen Thorrestrup Baldwin, a Danish woman married to an American, was hired by Headmaster John Davis Skilton for the opening of the school as director of women’s physical culture.

1936 basketball team.

Undated photo of the girls’ tennis team.

This was an auspicious moment in her field. The First World War had led to simplified women’s clothing and to what was allowed for, even expected of, girls in the athletic realm. Ms. Baldwin’s unique stature and confidence ensured that field hockey would play a major role not just among female students but Tower Hill life in general for the next century. The 1920s were a time when emphasis was placed on outdoor activities for children to fend off diseases such as tuberculosis.

Progressive educational thinking also encouraged creative play. Ms. Baldwin, or “Baldy” as she was affectionately known, became one of Headmaster Burton P. Fowler’s strongest allies in the pursuit of Progressive ideals. She was both a great coach and a successful teacher. She was also an oracle consulted by nearly everyone about almost everything. “Baldy” established early in Tower Hill’s history a record of excellence in athletics and humane teaching.

—EAW

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Bill Wild, right, with Ron Curry and Jim Williams.

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Bill Wild

Years Taught: 1937-1975 Bill Wild fired the gun to begin and end the final event, a tug of war, on Field Day. It was appropriate that he take up this commanding role in one of the great events in the school year. Mr. Wild came, as his career progressed, to be the very embodiment of Tower Hill. He taught German, but his heart was in athletics. He was hugely influential in the development of several generations of Tower Hill students, teaching life lessons by example and mentoring. He was especially concerned about students who struggled financially or in the social milieu of the school, and he reached out to support them.

“He had great influence over my life while teaching me German and coaching for three years, which then continued by helping me get into Lafayette College.

While in college he helped get me summer jobs at a YMCA camp at Lake George, New York, where I taught/coached his son, Jim, to swim one summer. We maintained our friendship for the remainder of his life.”

—Kurt O. Wassen ’47

Although his career was interrupted by military service in World War II, Mr. Wild was a very successful coach of football. However, he came to concentrate on basketball. In one stretch of four years after the war, his basketball teams won 10 or more games each season. In the winter of 1956-1957, they lost only to Sallies. His players were known as “Wildmen.” He also served as the trainer for all teams.

Students spoke of Mr. Wild’s “devotion to his job, generosity toward those in need and sincerity as a personal friend.”

—EAW

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Bob DeGroat

Years Taught: 1946-1983

All coaches are teachers, and great teachers who are coaches have a huge impact on students. Perhaps it is that athletics offer so many opportunities to teach about enduring human values: persistence, effort, loyalty, working with and supporting others, responding to success and failure, and dealing with competition and stress. Tower Hill athletics have been blessed to have some exceptional teachers, and Robert “Bob” DeGroat was one of the best.

Arriving in December 1946, Mr. DeGroat was, like a number of his contemporaries at Tower Hill, a veteran of World War II. In fact, many alumni, including men who played on his remarkably successful football teams, will remember Mr. D’s chapel speeches about his military service. The pilot of a heavy bomber in Europe, Mr. DeGroat was two missions away from earning his rotation home when he was shot down. The power of his story belied his self effacing introduction: “I found myself the unwilling guest of the German government until the end of the war.” The chapel lessons about integrity, fortitude and relying on others were powerfully presented from personal experience in ways that downplayed Mr. DeGroat’s role and presented his experience as everyman.

The result was strikingly memorable presentations that spoke to important core values and reflected Mr. DeGroat’s remarkably thoughtful and balanced approach to all he did, including coaching football.

Mr. DeGroat’s success as a football coach and athletic director led to his election to the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. “If you are going to keep score, then you want to win. We should expect excellence in

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all areas at Tower Hill,” was something he believed strongly. His record reflected that: three undefeated teams, six one-loss teams and an overall record of 118 wins, 78 losses and four ties. Yet, he just as strongly believed in meaningful participation of all members of a team below the varsity level and expected his coaches to accomplish that with a very important caveat: You never put a player in a competition if it will be inherently dangerous for the player or where the player will be humiliated. Inconsistent? Absolutely not! He said that his experiences during the war completely confirmed that you learn about yourself as a person by relying on and working with others.

Everyone should have that experience, and team sports were an excellent opportunity for this learning especially when done well. However, there was a second equally important tenet in his approach to his work.

Mr. DeGroat’s training was in physical education, and one of his core beliefs was that everyone had a body that they needed to develop and take care of so that they could use it and enjoy it. His response was an extraordinarily well-designed P.E. program from kindergarten through sixth grade, followed by a seventh through twelfth grade program that was excellently described in his Hall of Fame introduction. “As athletic director, the Springfield College graduate developed the school’s policy of full participation, in interscholastic or intramural sports, for both boys and girls, describing it as ‘a sport for everyone and everyone for a sport.’” This fit perfectly with the country day school philosophy of a sound mind in a sound body. Mr. DeGroat was also practical in recognizing the need to adapt to new conditions.

For example, he realized, as the school grew, that space was likely to limit this commitment in the

winter. So, he created a coeducational offering called “speedball.” The rules changed to accommodate the students who were in the sport ensuring that they all had to participate and exercise. He even taught rappelling off the then “new science building” roof, so that students had a “sport.” He did what was necessary to serve students and the school and clearly was a role model to his department, but he was also role model for teachers.

In a career that spanned the huge growth and interest in sports in the ’50s, to the Vince Lombardi “winning is everything” of the ’60s, to “sports take up too much time” in the ’70s, to the rise of the demand for individual sports, Mr. DeGroat was an eloquent champion of his beliefs and values, especially the benefits of physical education and team sports. This was always balanced, however, by his commitment to what was best for the students and the institution.

He fully supported the other areas of the school.

His thoughtful approach and willingness to engage anyone in the community about what was best for students made him a role model for his colleagues and for the community. His good friend Jim Wood expressed it best in his article for the Bulletin when Mr. DeGroat retired in 1983.

The hole in Tower Hill’s bucket will be eased by the values that Bob has taught us and by the standards he has set for us, but the hole he leaves as a friend is going to stay. It is a rare great thing to know a man who combines an honesty that shocks you with its openness, a warmth and concern for others that demands a response, and a sense of fun and love that opens your eyes to life around you.

—HNB

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Betty Richardson Years Taught: 1952-1996

The country day school emphasis on physical education and athletics was a part of Tower Hill from its inception. A tradition of success in girls’ sports developed rapidly, especially in field hockey.

This was a tradition that was to be preserved and enhanced by the arrival of a new faculty member in the fall of 1952. Elizabeth “Betty” Richardson joined the physical education program from BouvéBoston School of Physical Education. It was the beginning of a career that would continue, with a brief interruption, until 1996, and it was a career that would make “Miss Rich” one of the legends of the school community.

Miss Rich’s career was really a calling. Four areas intertwined to create a powerful influence, especially, but not exclusively, on young women. The first was the role of physical education “Pied Piper.” Miss Rich was invariably surrounded in the Lower School hallway by groups of children who “knew” that she wanted to hear about the latest event in their lives. Smiling and enthusiastic, Miss Rich somehow would respond specifically to each child in those few moments before she asked them to line up. Likewise, every adult who knew her knew that if adults approached her in the company of a small child, she was going to speak to the child first. Children intuitively responded and understood that Miss Rich cared about each of them. They also learned that she had high standards and expected them to behave and learn. So, when Miss Rich said “line up,” they did so willingly because P.E. class with Miss Rich was challenging, organized fun led by a demanding and 120

supportive guide. They wanted to go, and the result was students who grew in skill and confidence.

A fierce competitor, Miss Rich had the ability to adapt the intensity of that competitiveness to the age group she was coaching. A Middle School “B” team lacrosse team did not get the same level that the varsity field hockey players did. Varsity players would say to this day that they were a bit intimidated by Miss Rich. Her high expectations for their level of play was challenging. It was made even more so by their equally high desire not to disappoint her. The results speak for themselves: Of the 16 years Miss Rich was the varsity field hockey coach, the teams won four state championships (including winning the first state tournament in 1973 and three consecutive titles from 1981 to 1983), three second-place finishes and nine trips to the “final four.” These and her five Delaware women’s golf championships led to Miss Rich’s induction into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.

She was an intense competitor, and always with the highest level of sportsmanship. There was no doubt that, if you were going to keep score, she wanted to win with “class.”

There was also Miss Rich the leader of the Girls’ Athletic Department. She expected and modeled what a great instructor and coach should do. A stickler for organization down to the small details (heaven help the coach whose team equipment was not properly stored in the proper place at the proper time), she was also the first one to defend, help, guide and support colleagues in her department and the school. Miss Rich had high standards for everyone. Preceded by “Maybe it is my New England upbringing, but …” she would let colleagues, parents or the head of school

know if she felt something was just not right. This did not happen often, and it was always clear at the end that Miss Rich spoke because she cared so deeply about the school and the person she was talking to.

There was also Miss Rich the professional leader who mentored new faculty. Miss Rich cared deeply about her colleagues. She wanted them to succeed, and she wanted to help them be successful in any way she could. Never overbearing, she was willing to let a peer know that a situation might have been handled better, but she was also the first person to suggest that a colleague or parent was out of line. Her judgments were uncannily accurate, and she helped many a faculty member learn about the community and how the institution worked. She also seemed to have a sense of when someone might need a friend or encouragement. Once you were a part of Tower Hill, you were part of Miss Rich’s “family.”

Betty Richardson claimed that she was not a philosopher or big thinker; that all she was and all she wanted to be was a teacher. She never thought of herself as one of the important leaders of the school community. An exemplar of hard work and high ethical standards, her total commitment to teaching as a calling made her one of the great teachers and leaders of Tower Hill.

—HNB

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Bob Behr

Years Taught: 1962-1980

Bob Behr coached Tower Hill to statewide prominence in track and cross country during his 19 years of excellence in the English Department. He was among 10 inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

at the 1966 Penn Relays. On the first day Ginger Smith ’66, Carter Coates ’66, Gail Straub ’67 and Dede Hardy ’69 won the high school championship.

The following day, Smith led the victorious Delaware Track and Field Club team.

With innovative training techniques, the study of physiology and a passion for running, Mr. Behr had success that was unprecedented in Delaware and influential beyond the state’s borders, developing a small-school powerhouse and helping create competitive women’s track in Delaware. From 1964 through 1979, Tower Hill athletes won one-fourth (56 of 224) of all Division II state championships and compiled a dual meet record of 160-28-2. Mr. Behr coached six state championship teams in cross country and track, and in 1964, the smallest school ever to win the 1964 New Castle County championship. Six of his athletes—Chuck Hobbs ’65, Bill Neff ’65, Jeff Brokaw ’69, Ken Williams ’76, Ty Roberts ’79 and John Carroll ’81—set state records.

His boys’ mile relay teams won their section at the Penn Relays four times. Mr. Behr was as attentive to and demanding of his sub-JV runners as his stars.

Mr. Behr was a formidable teacher in the classroom and attentive to cultural and educational trends. In 1970 he edited The Search for Black Identity, published by the Independent School Press. The textbook was adopted for use in more than 100 schools and colleges.

For 13 years Mr. Behr was a sprinting consultant for the Phillies, and for 15 years he was the Delaware correspondent for Sports Illustrated. In 1981, he moved to Williams College, his alma mater, where he served for 35 years in alumni relations and development. He was inducted into the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1996.

—CD

In developing women’s track in Delaware, Mr. Behr coached both of the women’s championship teams

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Patricia Marshall Years Taught: 1969-2010

The girls’ athletic programs in the ’70s were enormously successful, especially in field hockey and tennis. In 1970-1971 they did not lose a game or match in field hockey, basketball or tennis. The coach of the basketball squad that year was Patricia Marshall, who had arrived back in Wilmington the year before. A Wilmington Friends graduate who had attended the University of Kentucky, Ms. Marshall joined the faculty to teach physical education and coach at all levels. She would continue to do so with great skill and little fanfare for over 40 years.

Being undefeated at the end of the 1971 was certainly a highlight for a program that would continue to have good years. The year 1979, however, brought it to lofty heights. Champions again of the Independent Conference, they qualified for the state tournament and were expected by most of the basketball pundits to exit quietly in the first round. The girls proceeded to play their way into the state championship game against St. Elizabeth. Again, the expectation was that they would be soundly defeated, as they had already lost to the Vikings twice. Instead it was a game that was exciting to the end. While the Tower Hill squad came up a little short when it was all over, the respect that they earned by their play was a tribute to their tenacity, to the coaching that they had received for four years and to the adjustments that were made during the game itself. That in turn was a tribute to their coach. Ms. Marshall would continue to coach the girls for six more years, and no girls’ basketball

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coach has had the longevity or the success that she enjoyed. Both achievements were in part due to her high expectations for effort, teamwork and sportsmanship. However, being able to couple these with an easy smile, a good laugh and an ability not to let the stress get too great were Ms. Marshall’s specialties, a winning combination for over 15 years.

The 1979 season also highlighted another aspect of Ms. Marshall’s career. Knowing that she was going to have a good team, she recruited Walt Daub, a Tower Hill teacher and former college basketball player, as her assistant. The cooperation between the two was indicative of the Ms. Marshall’s personal commitment to the teamwork she expected from her players.

Teamwork was reflected in all of Ms. Marshall’s career. In 1996, she became the girls’ athletic director when Betty Richardson retired. Between that year and her retirement, she worked with three very different men who were boys’ athletic directors or the athletic director. Her professionalism in working with changing leaders and responsibilities was deeply appreciated, and she came to be regarded by all of her administrative colleagues as a partner and essential contributor to the effectiveness of the athletic program. She played a vital role in the Athletic Department and was the consummate team player throughout her tenure at Tower Hill.

her strengths. She was a gifted teacher who was able to connect building blocks that fostered skill and character development; good sportsmanship and teamwork were at the forefront of all activities.

With an easy, positive approach, she was able to teach her students to be risk takers and believe that through effective effort they would find success.

She also brought that approach to her many other assignments, coaching virtually every sport offered in the Middle School and also serving as an Upper School coach in non-competitive sports.

Patty Marshall spent most of her career out of the limelight; she is the epitome of a group of superb understated and underrecognized Tower Hill faculty. She was a wonderful colleague and friend, a consummate professional and a faculty member fondly regarded and remembered by hundreds of former students.

—HNB and DAK

Ms. Marshall was also a wonderful physical education teacher. Her effectiveness in this area again reflected

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“Mr. Hyde was one of my best cheerleaders and support systems.”

—Mary Warren Foulk ’87 Passion! Passion for history. Passion for sports.

Passion for Tower Hill (and Williams College).

Passion about the movie Casablanca. Steve Hyde was all about passionate commitment to excellence, to winning, to enjoying life, to helping kids. Mr. Hyde was full of unexpected interests and ideas. He bubbled over with enthusiasm. He played classical music on the piano, loved acting in faculty plays and could analyze a student’s chances of getting into a particular college with surgical precision and oracular predictive powers. He loved telling stories, which made his survey courses exciting, but he also liked to pause and savor some marvelous or peculiar unknown details about famous figures’ lives that had nothing to do with the main narrative.

Mr. Hyde was passionate about football. He became head football coach in 1973, filling the shoes of the legendary Bob DeGroat. While a student at Tower Hill, he had been a star coached by the great man himself. His 15-year record was impressive: 79 wins, 47 losses and six ties, along with six conference championships and service as coach in the BlueGold All Star game. He used his coaching both in football and baseball (1987 team state champions), about which he was almost equally passionate, as an opportunity to teach about character.

Stephen Hyde ’59

Years Taught: 1974-2007

half a century later. Deep-dyed green does not even begin to do justice to his loyalty and service. He was perfectly capable of analyzing flaws and mistakes, but he believed in our mission and that what made the school special was our family spirit, athletic zeal and academic excellence. There was no service to the institution and its students he was not ready to perform. Few have ever given such loyalty so unselfishly.

Mr. Hyde was passionate about acting honorably, supporting those who were troubled, trying to see the other person’s point of view, celebrating differences and building rather than tearing down. He had time for anyone who needed him. He distributed support and respect with the force of water coming out of a fire hose, yet his advice and caring were meant to be and were accepted as at least as valuable as gold. One student, remembering a Hyde history course, noted that the teacher had made him understand that “a few people made a big difference.” And so it is with teachers like Steve Hyde.

—EAW

Mr. Hyde was one of the pillars of Tower Hill from his years as a student until his departure more than

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Robin Adair Harvey Years Taught: 1990-2019

In the fall of 1990, Robin Adair Harvey joined the new head field hockey coach, Pam Matsanka, as an assistant in the daunting task of following Betty Richardson. There was no question that they had some talented players, as Tower Hill had finished as runner-up in the previous two state championships, but no one could have anticipated what Ms. Harvey would bring to the school for the next 27 years.

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Ms. Harvey had experienced field hockey at a high level and played for Salisbury University for four years, including on their 1986 national championship team as a sophomore. She was also a two-time AllAmerican; however, you never would have gotten Ms. Harvey to tell you that. Pam Matsanka gave Ms. Harvey much of the credit for their success. During their four years together, they won four straight state

championships. These were followed by 10 additional championships and seven times as the runners-up with Ms. Harvey as head coach. The final record was 396 wins, 44 losses and 16 ties, a truly incredible achievement. Clearly, there were talented athletes, including two (Meredith Keller Giacco ’99 and Caitlin Van Sickle ’08) who were on the U.S. Olympic team, as well as a large number of successful college players in all three divisions, but talent alone was not the reason for success. The combination of the tangible and intangible made great players and great teams.

a duty that was somewhat daunting for her when she first arrived, but one that became another strength.

Just as she was in field hockey, Ms. Harvey was technically strong and a great motivator. Through fun activities she was able to lead her students to be focused, on task and enthusiastically engaged in their physical development. In addition, she was always very active in promoting physical fitness, good sportsmanship and respectful, cooperative behaviors.

The enthusiasm and smiles on her students’ faces in the hall were indicative of how much they enjoyed working with her and admired her.

Players, without exception, spoke of learning how important perfecting basic skills was, of fine tuning the skills they had and of learning new skills. They acquired excellent habits and understood what it meant to have high standards. As one parent aptly noted, they were “prepared for the next level, for the hard work that would be required, for the positive team spirit that would be appreciated, for the perseverance and effort that would be expected each and every day.” Whether they played hockey after Tower Hill or not, those qualities were instilled in Ms. Harvey’s players. This came from her ability to make team members want to be their best. She had the silent ability to get them to work their hardest, not to settle for mediocrity and to always believe they could improve. Focused and driven as a coach, she was nevertheless supportive, encouraging and a natural leader.

The admiration for Ms. Harvey was not limited to the younger students. She was a role model of what you would hope for in a teacher and a coach. Always learning something new, she had high standards for her players and herself and was always ready with an encouraging word. She was dedicated to doing what was best for her players, students and the school, so that they could be successful. She earned the admiration of her peers, players, students and opponents while remaining the self-effacing coach who arrived in 1990.

—HNB, DAK and MKG

Ms. Harvey continued to teach physical education when she retired from coaching field hockey. It was

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CHAPTER 7 Teacher-Administrators

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Howard Yule

Howdy Yule, assistant headmaster, head of Upper School and chair of the Language Department, accompanied Brooke Stabler to Wilmington in 1950.

They came from Cranbrook School near Detroit, where Mr. Yule had also served as a faculty leader.

His 38-year career working with students and in administration was a remarkably successful one. At Tower Hill he served many functions including the sensitive job of college counselor. He was efficient, incisive, imaginative, loyal and very busy.

Mr. Yule’s academic credentials were exceptional.

He held a B.A. from Hamilton and an M.A. from the celebrated language program at Middlebury.

Further graduate work carried him to Harvard and the University of Grenoble. In the classroom Mr. Yule hammered home Latin and French grammar, but his classes were never dull. He was well informed and supportive in the role as college advisor, a rock in a sometimes rapidly flowing river of panic and near hysteria.

Mr. Yule emphasized academic rigor. He was adept at throwing chalk at inattentive students but somehow always managed to miss the target. He modified the Latin program to reduce the emphasis on Caesar’s military vocabulary and make the material more useful and engaging. Under his guidance Russian was introduced into the curriculum for the first time, while French became a required subject in the Middle School. He raised the possibility of Spanish being emphasized on equal footing. He

Years Taught: 1950-1962

spoke enthusiastically about the “trinity” of language skills, literature and the study of civilization as the justification for language instruction at Tower Hill.

He wanted to stamp out provincialism and develop in students “international minds.” He was wisely wary of overly lavish spending on technology then becoming fashionable and then quickly redundant in the form of “language laboratories.” He thundered against fads that led to “dilution and dilation,” for he believed that languages were about culture and communication, not “social science.” At the heart of everything for him was inspired teaching.

Mr. Yule was active in a range of reforms and adjustments to the curriculum outside the field of languages. The new Advanced Placement courses fostered by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton during the 1950s were gradually made part of Tower Hill life. He gave warm support to Cal Bourgeault and Bill Carveth as they expanded the music programs. To add more courses and find activities more time and space was Mr. Yule’s specialty.

Mr. Yule’s most important quality was displayed in supporting students whether on the athletic field, in the classroom or facing the terrors of college admission. For all his formidable skills as an administrator and teacher, what students remembered were his kindness and his advocacy for those who were troubled or in trouble. He was, the editors of the yearbook said, “our staunch friend.”

—EAW

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Richard Byrne

Years Taught: 1954-1991

Richard Byrne served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After his military service, he attended Trinity College in Connecticut and began his teaching career at The Rectory School in Pomfret before coming to Tower Hill in 1954. In the Middle School, he taught every subject except foreign language. Then he became head of the Middle School for decades.

Mr. Byrne created innovative learning programs and placed a great emphasis on service to others.

An award for the Middle School at Moving Up Day honors students for giving of themselves to the community. He and his wife, Bea, organized a Middle School Show at Christmas time for many years. This was part of an elaborate extravaganza to celebrate the season. There was a competition for classroom decoration, the Christmas Concert and the show, all of which created a sense of wild excitement among the students. The agitated scene made Mr. Byrne grumble ostentatiously, but he actually loved it all.

Mr. Byrne was a multi-tasker of epic proportions.

After Miss Buckles retired, he managed Pooh Store. He worked with the Alumni Office tracking down missing graduates, and he did the scheduling of classes and lunch seating. He also took over

management of the school bookstore, where he dealt diplomatically with impatient teachers, parents and students. He organized the regular meetings of the Middle School heads in Delaware schools.

Mr. Byrne was one of those who recognized that the school archives contained much of value but had been neglected. Along with Grace Klock, and with the help of a professional consulting service, he helped bring the first 75 years of materials into some sort of order. Later, he lamented, “Boxes are piling up,” which alas is still true at our Centennial. The project proved invaluable for the authors of Forever Green, the 75th anniversary history of Tower Hill, and is a wonderful gift to future generations.

Dick Byrne gave of himself selflessly to Tower Hill and to his wife and family of five children. Bea, in turn, became an integral part of the school as well, serving as tutor, bookstore clerk and Christmas play author, director and producer. They were gentle and caring people. They saw what needed to be done and acted. Few couples meant so much to so many people in the school’s history because of their selfless kindness and willingness to lend a hand.

—HNB and EAW

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“Ernie was so good that for me, his teaching was never superseded. I especially remember his discussion of William Jennings Bryan’s ‘Cross of Gold’ speech, engendered by maldistribution of wealth in 1896.

In 50 years of teaching chemical engineering, I imitated his hierarchy of answers: a first, clear conclusion; then only if requested, a more nuanced answer.”

—Ed Cussler ’57 136

“Ernie epitomized Multa Bene Facta.

He was a wonderful person, an advocate for both the student and the institution, and a fun teacher.”

—Jack Morton ’85 It is fair to say that few more remarkable men ever taught at Tower Hill than Ernie Savage. He was a bundle of contradictions: scholar (Princeton and Harvard), teacher, coach and administrator with a golden sense of humor and absolute seriousness in the pursuit of his work.

During his first year teaching, Mr. Savage was exasperated with students in his American history class. They were not engaged in the topic at hand. Mr. Savage threatened to hide under his desk and stay there until somebody started talking. Silence. Under the desk he went. The door opened and Headmaster Brooke Stabler entered to assess the quality of the new hire in the History Department. It is a tribute to both men that Mr. Savage survived this apparition and went on to be an incomparable department chair, dean of students, director of the internship program, head of Upper School, assistant headmaster, varsity baseball coach and friend and supporter of several generations of Hillers. Few teachers at Tower Hill have matched Mr. Savage’s versatility in job responsibilities.

Successive headmasters felt comfortable departing for their summer vacations to remote locations and turning over the operation of the school to Mr. Savage. He was at ease with board chairs, parents, admissions, hiring and fundraising, and he was not

Ernie Savage

Years Taught: 1956-1986 above running full tilt after miscreants, chasing them down Rising Sun Lane, if necessary, despite a somewhat portly frame. He also sidled up to students in the hallways, with an ominous “Where’re ya goin?” locking arm under an arm and doing business, both good and bad, with a helplessly ensnared victim.

Mr. Savage threw himself into school life whether it was in the classroom or playing a mean hand of gin rummy with seventh graders on the Cape Henlopen trip. His favorite expletive was “Yikes!” Nothing was above his talents or beneath his dignity. Although he demanded high standards of discipline, he could talk to students with a candor and compassion unequaled by any of his colleagues.

What everyone remembers about Mr. Savage was his laughter and his kindness. His greatness as a teacher lay in his intense interest in the lives and needs of the students in his classes. He was constantly available to kids, however small the problem might be. His warmth, his encouragement, his humor and his joie de vivre were infectious and made him beloved. It was the students, he said, that “keep me hopping!”

—EAW

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Harry Baetjer Years Taught: 1970-2017

In some ways, things were very different in 1970, but in other ways very much the same. In the spring of that year, the no-end-in-sight Vietnam War raged on; the country was stunned by the shootings at Kent State and was gripped by the near tragedy of Apollo 13; the Phillies were beginning another less-thanstellar season of baseball; and what was to be the #1 selling record that year, Bridge Over Troubled Water, hit the top of the Billboard charts. More importantly for Tower Hill, graduating from Trinity College with a B.A. in history was a young man by the name of Harry Baetjer.

That year, Tower Hill was looking for a Middle School history teacher, and Mr. Baetjer applied for the position. One of his references, a member of the Trinity history department, described him as one “whose character and achievement persuades me that he is a young man of real ability and promise.” He also described him as “of serious and modest opinions, strong common sense and a real sense of obligation to the college community.”

Similarly, his headmaster at the Gilman School in Baltimore said this of Mr. Baetjer in his college recommendation: “Baetjer is a quiet, sincere young man blest with all the finer character qualities. He is extremely conscientious and always gives his best effort without any prodding. ... It is true that he is extremely modest, but the faculty and his fellow students all

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Harry Baetjer circa 1973

have a high regard for him as a person.” Malcolm Coates, Tower Hill’s headmaster at the time, after conversations with a couple of references, noted how Mr. Baetjer greatly impressed those who knew him with his genuine desire to go into teaching, describing him as conscientious, displaying excellent rapport and extremely loyal.

So, in the fall of 1970, Mr. Baetjer began his Tower Hill career. The school was a bit different back then.

The senior class had 42 students; the library/science wing was not yet built; the number of teachers was significantly less. For example, the Lower School faculty consisted of 12 women and Bill Smith, the division head. The Middle School faculty had about 18, and the Upper School faculty, totaling just a few short of 30, was about 75 percent male.

For several years, Mr. Baetjer taught sixth and eighth grade history and coached in the Middle School. He eventually began to expand his role into the Upper School, teaching World Cultures 1 and assisting with the Upper School football and basketball programs.

In 1981, Mr. Baetjer moved full time into the Upper School as dean of students. Two years later, he became head of Upper School, a position he held for 25 years. He was always honest in his evaluations, and he became a trusted confidant and a valued friend, as many can attest. This is what he did for any who were fortunate enough to work under his leadership during those years.

to a new position as assistant head of school. Though uncertain as to what the role would entail, he took the position and began to figure out what exactly he was supposed to be doing. Typical of Mr. Baetjer, he did it in a professional and superb manner. Thus, when the school found itself in the unexpected position of needing someone to step in and take the helm during a difficult time, Mr. Baetjer was the clear and logical choice as headmaster. The Tower Hill community had someone it could rely on, fully trust and rally around to keep the school moving ahead and, most significantly, to keep the focus on the students. It is important to understand that throughout Mr. Baetjer’s tenure at Tower Hill, creating a positive and meaningful experience for the students has always been his #1 priority.

Which brings us back to the closing paragraph of Mr. Baetjer’s college recommendation. “Baetjer’s integrity, devotion to duty and loyalty all make us very proud that he has been a student at Gilman. He exercises a splendid influence. These same qualities will lead him to success after he leaves Gilman, and we feel confident that he will be a credit to any college community.” Indeed, his integrity, his devotion to duty and his loyalty shown to the Tower Hill School community made the school proud of his leadership. His gifts as a teacher and sense of fun made him beloved.

—JS

In 2008, a change occurred that would prove significant a few years later. Mr. Baetjer was asked to move

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John Newlin

Years Taught: 1979-2008 Middle Schools are unique. Arguably, the four grades of middle school contain more challenges than any other four-year span in a student’s life. The impact on schools is a kaleidoscope of educational, social and psychological demands that need to be addressed in a developmentally appropriate way. It is a daunting, seemingly limitless task, but for 29 years Tower Hill’s Middle School grew and prospered under John Newlin’s guidance.

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Mr. Newlin brought a student-friendly, ageappropriate learning environment to the fifth through eighth grades. From his dedication to the Octave Program, which provided daily enrichment opportunities, to a wide variety of student organized activities—fairs, fundraisers, talent shows—to an extensive trip program, Mr. Newlin demonstrated that a fine academic school can and should be equally sensitive to the extracurricular, physical, social and

emotional needs of Middle School students. He radiated a very special glow for his students. He valued their enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoyed working with them. At times, it was hard to believe that Mr. Newlin had, in fact, outgrown his own Middle School experience! He simply was having a great time with his kids! Mr. Newlin’s efforts, both professional and personal, enabled 10- to 14-year-old boys and girls to focus their energies and develop compelling interests and commitments, as learners, friends, teammates and members of the broader community.

If these were the sum total of Mr. Newlin’s contributions to Tower Hill, they would certainly have been more than enough. There is, however, much more. He was convinced that successful Middle Schools had to serve students’ parents and the larger school community. He encouraged parents to be a part of the Middle School by going on school trips, teaching in the Octave Program and participating in class coffees in the morning so that they could enrich the Middle School and also see the school in action. Clearly, it was a symbiotic relationship. But his commitment to service learning and the “Signature Strengths” (e.g. courage, empathy, perseverance, etc.) spoke to his desire to develop more than each student’s academic skill.

These two programs were perhaps the most visible of Mr. Newlin’s efforts to help develop the personal qualities of Tower Hill students. He also brought a unique understanding and acceptance of varied learning styles, enabling Tower Hill to better

understand and serve its students. This helped to sustain and encourage an even greater appreciation of students in all grades and led to a greater awareness of the challenges that students faced.

One of Mr. Newlin’s greatest gifts was a sense of humor. He never took life too seriously—clearly a personality trait that is essential for a successful Middle School head. The most remarkable thing about his storytelling was that he was usually the victim of the joke. Whether he was recounting the rather shaky academic career of his younger days or the amount of his wife Dodo’s chocolate cake that he ate ending his latest diet, his humor was never at someone else’s expense and was endlessly entertaining. That humor helped him through innumerable tough situations.

Mr. Newlin shepherded thousands of Tower Hill youngsters through some of their most challenging school years, and through it all he maintained a sense of humor, commitment to quality education and a love for the boys and girls in his care. He was a valued colleague and a dear friend to those who worked with him closely over the years. There was never any question about his loyalty to the Middle School or his partiality to his faculty, but for those who represented all other divisions of the school, he was a knowledgeable sounding board and an invaluable resource.

—HNB

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Tower Hill Centennial Book Committee: Harry N. Baetjer III Kate Bailey Julie Goldston Heather Weymouth Lowry ’97 Teresa B. Messmore Elizabeth C. Speers Mary Hobbs Taylor ’09 Kathy Warner Ellis A. Wasson, Ph.D. This special-edition book was published in commemoration of the Centennial of Tower Hill School by the Communications Office. Former faculty members Harry N. Baetjer III and Ellis A. Wasson, Ph.D. served as the principal authors and researchers, with contributing writers noted on page 10. Director of Communications and Marketing Teresa Messmore managed the editing, photo research, layout and printing.

Proofreaders: Harry N. Baetjer III, Janet Kline, Stacy Palmer, Julia Stone, Ellis A. Wasson, Ph.D., Amy Wolf Additional photo research: Kirk Smith Thank you to the Casscells Family for generously underwriting the cost of printing this publication.

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