Mr. Carey Kopeikin’s extensive pencil collection, displaying over 2,000 pencils. Photo by Praj Chirathivat/The Choate News
Mr. Carey Kopeikin is a second year Mathematics teacher at Choate and the Head Adviser of Memorial House. One of his many hobbies is collecting pencils.
A significant area of your office is occupied by hundreds of pencils of various shapes and sizes. What brought about the interest in pencils?
I think at one point when I was eight or seven or six I saw, in a really nice dress store in a mall, a pencil of a donkey that said “Party Animal” with a hat on. It was really stupid, and I thought, “I want one of those,” but I couldn’t justify having it. Then I got a few pencils when I was eight, and, yes, it has been going since.
You’ve said that the pencils you have at Choate represent only a part of the whole collection. So what is the whole extent of the collection?
The last time I counted was about ten years ago, and it was 1,658 pencils. I haven’t counted since, but it’s definitely over 2,000. The more fragile pencils are still at home. I could only bring a suitcase full last time. When the movers were moving our stuff, I would not allow them to touch my pencils. I packed them all personally, and then I drove them back home so they could be safe.
Your other interests include Magic the Gathering and the Baltimore Ravens. Do you have pencils that overlap with these interests?
I don’t have any Magic pencils and that makes me sad, but I usually try not to search out pencils. I try to let them come to me, and, you know, feel the aura and the zen of the pencils calling.
Do you have any one pencil that’s more special to you?
The first eight that I got — I don’t remember their order, but they’re in a special case. I also have pencils that we gave out, instead of T-shirts or napkins or something stupid that people give out at weddings or whatever. I sent out pencils with Mr. Bradley’s birth information; those are pretty special.
