Photo by Toffy Prakittiphoom/The Choate News
Sometimes, the most meaningful part of the Choate experience is not a student’s laundry list of classes or extracurrciulars but rather the character traits they learn to take on from upperclassmen and faculty. At the same time, though, newer faculty members who have recently begun their own Choate journeys see a multitude of ways to grow, too — and many have a set of role models of their own.
Mr. Sam Christenfeld has taught for three years, all of which have been spent in Choate’s HPRSS department, where he arrived in 2019. A few fellow faculty members who immediately came to Mr. Christenfeld’s mind when hearing the term “role model” were Ms. Kyra Jenney, Ms. Courtney Barker-DeStefano, and Ms. Ellen Devine. Over the past few years, Mr. Christenfeld’s approach to teaching has undergone a significant shift — he’s begun to focus more on student wellbeing, especially given the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Mr. Christenfeld, Ms. Jenney, who is the head of the HPRSS department, was particularly conducive to that shift. He said, “She showed incredible empathy for all of the students that she interacted with last year, and her flexibility and compassion are things that I aspire to in my own teaching.”
A former head of the arts department, Ms. Kalya Yannatos, was instrumental in Mr. Gene Wie’s decision to leave sunny Southern California for New England weather in 2020. In his role as instrumental ensembles director, he aims to promote the wellness and happiness of his students; he admired how deeply Ms. Yannatos cared for her students. “The way she emphasized that she was supposed to teach the students, not glorify the rules was always through a very diplomatic approach — that’s really why she is my role model.” Mr. Wie has received lots of support from his colleagues here, allowing him to share his pursuit of bettering the student experience. “Most people in the arts are very on-board with these ideas and not afraid to step out and say it. We’re open to discussion and as long as it’s always directed towards the student experience, I’m not going to argue with that.”
Whether it’s a unique explanation of a tough concept or simply a positive, encouraging attitude with students, fellow colleagues’ pedagogical approaches have often inspired Mr. Nick Tagge, a math teacher who joined the Choate faculty in 2019. When asked if there has been anyone who has impacted his experience as a teacher here, Mr. Tagge replied, “Everyone that I have worked with has. It’s too hard to pick out one person!” One moment that stands out, though, was when he observed one of Mr. Sam Jonynas’s classes and saw how his energetic personality made the class more entertaining and interactive for students. Mr. Tagge said, “I became a teacher because I thought it would be fun. I try to enjoy the work as much as possible and hopefully that means students are enjoying it too, which leads to positive outcomes for everyone.”
Ultimately, Mr. Christenfeld said that while his role models are all different, he greatly admires in each “their profound compassion, the immense degree to which they care for their students and colleagues, and their willingness to stand up for the things they believe in.”
