Teaching

One of her themes was the importance of leaving something in people rather than just for them. She returned often to the notion that one’s impact, if genuinely meaningful, would change the way others see themselves. Great acting and performances are like that — they work their way into you and move things around in ways that you had not anticipated. Transformative teaching is the same way.

When I think about my ninth grade English teacher, Mr. Gauthier, I recall his voice nudging me and others along as if it were yesterday. His “Dirty 30” grammatical rules were annoying in their specificity (we had to memorize them) but ultimately helpful. It wasn’t his draconian guardrails that transformed me, however, but his constant cajoling to keep getting better. Learning and improving didn’t have an endpoint; it was the point. Mr. Lilien, an eccentric Einstein-looking history teacher and fencing coach, was the same way. His standards were high, and the commitment he asked of us as students and as fencers was unforgiving — sometimes too much so. Nevertheless, he ingrained in me a profound sense of curiosity, loyalty, and what working hard looked like. Perhaps the most significant influence on me was Mrs. Santos, who did not demand obedience in the way that my history teacher did, nor did she speak to always improving. Instead, she modeled these things. Show, don’t tell. Her fascination with international politics was so thrilling that we wanted to feel the same thing — about anything. Mrs. Santos instilled in us the belief that ideas could be intoxicating and moving if we were willing to make the effort to understand them.

As I watch our students navigate life at school, I see young men and women who are inspired by teachers — not by force of will but by a profound sense of what it means to teach rather than merely dispense information. Without question, the impact of their teachers will be felt for years to come.

JWB