Teacher: a person or thing that teaches something; especially: a person whose job is to teach students about certain subjects (Merriam-Webster)
Does that include being house heads, class deans, coaches, advisors, coordinators and sponsors? Does it include weekend dorm duty, driving students to the airport or community service, directing plays, choreographing dance concerts, running music rehearsals, leading hikes, or chaperoning dances?
College “Recs”
Faculty each write, on average, six to twelve college recommendations per year. Department heads and faculty who teach mostly juniors and seniors get the most requests.
English and history faculty member Elaine Apthorp once wrote a record 26 recommendations in one year.
“It’s a major matter for each student’s application, so I devote a lot of time and thought to preparing each one.” — Elaine Apthorp
Advising students on matters big and small
At five to six students per year, senior faculty have guided many advisees over the years.
Dar Anastas
Performing Arts: 238
Laurel Starks
History: 189
Don Dregalla
Music: 180
Mary Jo Ramos
Modern Languages: 110
Vivian Wu Wong
History: 90
Tarim Chung
English: 84
Terri Herr Neckar
Math: 75
Did you know?
- Math faculty members climb 73 steps in Ware Hall to their classrooms an average of five times a day.
- Athletics and physical education faculty each spend roughly 500 hours per school year on the fields/courts/rink/training rooms at Milton and another 30 to 40 hours on team buses.
- The science department orders about 20,000 pairs of gloves for the labs each year.
- Paul Menneg, visual arts faculty, orders three to four tons of clay per year.
- Middle School robotics students use 9,600 LEGO pieces every year.
- The performing arts department stages eight major productions each year.
The secret lives of faculty
Mark Connolly is training for a 134-mile bike ride in June. Jennifer Hughes performs in community theater productions. Josh Emmott is an avid fly fisherman. Matt Bingham can juggle. Hal Pratt is a cabinet maker. Louise Mundinger collaborates with other composers to create new works for the pipe organ. Elaine Apthorp plays acoustic guitar, five-string banjo and a “sweet little ukulele named Amy.” Hannah Pulit just became a certified yoga instructor. Matt Simonson was a competitive figure skater. Susan Karp paints still life. Tarim Chung is an avid cyclist and triathlete in the summer. Ted Whalen served as a non-ordained minister. Don Dregalla has a keen interest in the Civil War. Linnea Engstrom loves to Zumba. Gary Shrager used to play ultimate Frisbee. Sachiyo Unger is a long-term practitioner of Baptiste yoga. Dar Anastas designed seven floors of lighting in the Prudential Tower. Ryan Stone spent a year in China as the head coach of the Chinese Women’s National Hockey Team. Matt Petherick has run six marathons. Heather Sugrue speaks French.
Just athletics:
They outfit and equip 85 teams (57 Upper School; 28 Middle School) for three athletic seasons.
Average purchases each year include:
24 footballs
80 soccer balls
12 volleyballs
60 field hockey balls
14 dozen squash balls
300 hockey pucks
36 basketballs
108 dozen tennis balls
24 dozen baseballs
40 dozen lacrosse balls
144 Gatorade bottles
120 towels
750 pounds of laundry detergent
A year of reviewing papers, quizzes, exams, and labs — just a sample:
English
Maria Gerrity: 720 papers
Caroline Sabin: 800 papers
Tarim Chung: 420 essays
Science
Heather Zimmer: 4,500 lab pages
Matt Bingham: 166 tests,
35 mid-terms, 65 major labs,
and 170 mini-labs
Sarah Richards: 192 tests,
72 major labs, and 216 mini-labs
Math
Susan Karp: 600 quizzes/exams
Heather Sugrue: 900 quizzes/exams
Modern Languages
Severine Carpenter: 1,800 quizzes/exams
Mark Connolly: 750 to 1,000 quizzes
Isabelle Lantieri: “A lot!”
Performing Arts
Susan Marianelli listens to 2,000 speeches each year
History
Laurel Starks: 416 papers/exams
Josh Emmot: 384 papers,
39 exams
K–8
Sachiyo Unger, Grade 2: 1,800 quizzes/tests/projects
Sandy Butler, K–5 art: Hundreds of projects, “from painting parrots with kindergarteners to group Lewis and Clark murals with third graders, to Egyptian masks with fourth graders, to helping fifth graders with their self-designed social justice artwork.”
Do you recognize this mustachioed man? Bob Sinicrope began in the math department in 1973. For 40 years he has led Milton’s jazz program. He recently became president of the Jazz Education Network. His inaugural JEN conference hosted 3,500 jazz educators and Herbie Hancock as the keynote.