Were it not for harsh Upstate New York winters, Dutch Keel might never have become a teacher. Originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, he went off to Colgate University thinking he would become a doctor or environmentalist. Yet during a particularly brutal cold spell, a poster for the Semester at Sea program caught his eye. “It showed sailboats on the ocean and kids swimming in the Caribbean,” recalls Dutch, who soon thereafter applied for and was accepted to the program. That initial taste of maritime life led to a stint as a deckhand, followed by seven years teaching aboard a schooner with the Sea Education Association (SEA). Dutch and his wife, Annie, came to Trinity-Pawling in 2010; they live in Starr Hall with their two daughters.
FACULTY MINUTE
Science Instructor Dutch Keel On how boys learn best: We came to T-P from a small girls’ school in New Jersey. A lot of research suggests that boys and girls learn differently—that boys are more active learners who excel by doing and seeing, for example. I have found this to be true. Moreover, I find that the boys’ curiosity is piqued if they feel concepts are directly applicable to them. A common question I hear is, “How does this relate to me?” If they are interested and engaged in a topic, they will devour information and even have a hard time waiting to ask questions.
On the demands of teaching at a boarding school and staying innovative: The work I do I absolutely love, but it is a gigantic time commitment. I am on the go from the time I wake up through evening tutoring and then some. This leaves little time to refine my teaching and curricula, so that’s what I focus on in the summer. Recently, I have been experimenting with the “flipped classroom” model with my Honors Biology students. This means that I ask the boys to watch lectures outside of class, which frees up in-class time to master the concepts.
On his favorite thing about the Trinity-Pawling community: I am always amazed at how the entire community here rallies around folks when they need to be picked up. This really is a community that looks out for its own. People will go out of their way to help in any way they can.
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