Photo by Toffy Prakittiphoom ’24/The Choate News
After 40 years of hard work, dedication, and laughter in the classroom, Mr. John Connelly will be retiring from Choate at the end of this academic year.
Initially coming in as a coach for Boys’ Varsity Football and Track and Field in the fall of 1982, Mr. Connelly soon made his way into the classroom where he began teaching in the HPRSS department. “One of the reasons I came to Choate was because of the academic opportunities for growth,” noted Mr. Connelly. “I had been a head coach at my old school and found that I wanted to spend more time on academic studies.”
Mr. Connelly came to Choate with the goal of expanding [his] teaching areas, and he did just that during his 40-year-long Choate career. He has taught a variety of courses and electives in the HPRSS department, including American Studies, United States History, World History, The United States in Vietnam, 1961-1965, and The Rise of Modern China. He has also taught Second Year Chinese in the language department.
Mr. Connelly has been devoted to making both his own teaching experience and the learning experience of his students more enriching and engaging. As a sociology and history major with a focus on European and American colonial history in college, Mr. Connelly had little exposure to Asian history. However, when an opportunity to teach Chinese history arose, he was the first to volunteer. Mr. Connelly shared, “I had to be autodidactic. I had to teach myself, and I also had opportunities to study.”
In preparation for the Chinese history course, he traveled to Oxford for a private tutorial and has attended many workshops since. At the midpoint of his career, Mr. Connelly once again offered his assistance when the School needed help transitioning Chinese from a club activity to a course of study. After studying at the Middlebury Language School and at the Yale Summer Language School, Mr. Connelly officially began his four-year-long appointment as a Chinese teacher.
Outside of the classroom, Mr. Connelly and his wife, Mrs. Lorraine Connelly, have also contributed largely to the development of several lecture series. They have served as the facilitators of the Krause Lecture for 12 years and the Ambassador S. Davis Phillips ’61 Family Lecture Series for 18 years. One of Mr. Connelly’s most memorable invited guests was American storyteller and filmmaker Ken Burns in 2018. The impeccable timing of Burns’ release of The Vietnam War and his vibrant delivery at Choate made for what Mr. Connelly describes as “the best speaker I’d ever seen.” Mr. Connelly’s work ethic and genuine character have had a major impact on his colleagues in the HPRSS department. “His wisdom, leadership, and mentorship in the department has influenced the work and direction of the department in significant ways over his 40-year career,” shared Ms. Kyra Jenney, Head of the HPRSS Department.
Mr. Connelly helped build up a robust curriculum for World History and U.S. History, as well as many of the electives he has taught over the years. He has also worked as an adviser to the Student Council and made important contributions to Choate Summer Programs. As Ms. Jenney described, “Mr. Connelly is someone who tries to support students, help them grow, challenge them to learn new skills, and champion their successes along the way.” Mr. Neil Shimmield praised Mr. Connelly for being both a treasured friend and colleague. He said, “We’ve worked together on World History for many years, exchanging ideas and teaching materials. He’s always been extremely helpful, especially when I had questions about China or Vietnam. He’s a great guy and impossible to replace.”
Mr. Connelly is warmly thought of as a caring and supportive teacher and has been an irreplaceable figure to many of his students. Kenny Tang ’22 shared, “Mr. Connelly has been my academic mentor for two years. As my American Studies teacher, Rise of Modern China teacher, and Capstone adviser, he has given me invaluable insights and guidance on an array of different topics. His great knowledge of history and Chinese politics has allowed me to grow tremendously as a student.”
Heidi Li ’23, another student in Mr. Connelly’s American Studies class, expressed her gratitude towards Mr. Connelly, saying, “I think what makes Mr. Connelly’s class at Choate so special is how his passion, knowledge, and genuine enthusiasm for history and teaching shines through in the thoughtful questions he poses, the detailed insight he provides, and the puns and jokes he makes in class. He genuinely cares about his students.”
As an integral member of this community, Mr. Connelly has made countless fond memories here at Choate. He recalled, “You see different cohorts of students come through this school, but that kind of ongoing relationship of young learners is something I’ve come to depend on. The rhythms of my life have been set by the academic schedule at Choate.”
In fact, Choate made its way into the heart of his family by setting up Mr. Connelly and Mrs. Connelly’s first meeting in 1996. According to Mr. Connelly, Mrs. Connelly recruited him to write a book review when she worked as a writer and editor in the Communications Office, and their relationship grew from working intensively on the editing of the book review together. Mr. Connelly suspects she may have used the opportunity for the two to get to know each other but states that he is “ever thankful for the connection.” The two were married in 1999 and have made Choate their home ever since.
“I’m very thankful as I get into retirement for the kind words of my colleagues, and I think it’s been overwhelming to a degree to get notes from them, to talk to them about what our relationship has been like. I’ll never forget those messages,” shared Mr. Connelly. The Choate community will miss Mr. Connelly’s energy and guidance, and wish him all the best for his retirement.
