Language Department Welcomes Six New Members to Faculty
By Maddie Broder ’09
News Staff Reporter
This year, of the eighteen faculty members who are new to Choate six joined the Language Department.
The new faculty members on campus have competed for highly coveted teaching and administrative jobs. “This school is a competitive place to get hired,” said Mr. Stephen Farrell, Dean of Faculty. “There are more than one thousand applicants every year.”
A Look at the Process
Of course, one thousand resumes are not actually reviewed every year, and the faculty members that make it into the classroom have been selected from a smaller group of extremely qualified finalists.
The Language Department received an impressive crop of new teachers, three of whom are international faculty members. Marta Escartin Arias hails from Zaragoza, Spain, and is teaching Spanish language at Choate through a School Year Abroad program. Michelle Yang, one of two new Chinese teachers, also plans on teaching at Choate for just this school year through the Chinese Guest Teacher program of the College Board. Ms. Yang received her undergraduate education from Shengyang University and earned a master’s degree from The University of Nottingham. Sharing an apartment with Ms. Yang in Hall House is the other new Chinese teacher Amanda Tian, who is already familiar with Choate. Ms. Tian has taught for many years at the Choate summer program in Beijing and received her B.A. from Beijing Language and Cultural University.
Selected from the Area
The three other new language teachers are from places a bit closer to Choate. Oscar Rollan comes to the school from the Hopkins School in New Haven. Mr. Rollan is teaching the Spanish classes that his wife, Eera Sharma, taught last year. A native speaker, Mr. Rollan received his B.A. from Universidad de Salamanca and an M.A. from Middlebury College. Mr. Rollan, Ms. Sharma, and their three sons live in Combination House. New Latin teacher Oliver Morris comes to Choate from the Foote School in New Haven and is a familiar face to many students. Mr. Morris taught at Windermere Preparatory School in Florida before he began teaching in Connecticut. He is an adviser in Edsall House and lives with his wife Rose and their daughter Isling. The final addition to the language department is Meghan Hazard, who is the daughter of Lolly Hand, a former Choate faculty member. Prior to her arrival at Choate, Ms. Hazard taught French and English for nine years at Westminster. Ms. Hazard is an adviser in Archbold this year.
The new administrative roster includes Amanda Belichick, who works as an admissions officer and an athletics coach, and is a graduate of Phillips Andover and Wesleyan University. Ms. Belichick is also a dorm adviser in Hill House. The other new addition to the administrative team is Maggie Clouet, a Nurse Practitioner, who returns to Choate after a three-year leave to work part-time in the Health Center. Mrs. Clouet received her B.S. from Southern Connecticut State University and her M.S. from Fairfield University.
Community Responds
“I feel very positive about this group of new incoming faculty,” said Mr. Farrell, “They just exude a positive energy.”
Students and returning faculty members alike agree with Mr. Farrell’s sentiments about the caliber of the new faculty. Pooja Pendri ’10, a student in Marta Escartin’s Spanish 450 class, remarked that she “loved that Marta is from Spain and is a native speaker of Spanish. I think it will make my Spanish much better. And faculty diversity like this is great for the school too.”
“The new additions to the admissions office this year are simply terrific,” said Mr. Bradley, an admissions officer at the school. “We love them.”
“I look forward to hiring the new faculty every year,” said Mr. Farrell. “It’s nice to help create the faculty who will be the school, because you can’t have a great school without great faculty. And Choate is a good place to want to work.”
The new faculty members this year wholeheartedly agree with this statement. “Teaching is what I love doing and Choate is a great place to be doing that,” said Mr. Morris. “Teaching high school can be difficult, but the community here has been very supportive.”
Adjusting to Residential Life
Mr. Farrell admits that adjusting to residential life can be challenging. Because of the demanding schedule Choate teachers face, the new teachers that are hired “have to enjoy spending time with kids,” said Mr. Farrell. “This group of new members is one that we’re going to hang onto for a while. They’re a great mix of experienced faculty members and newcomers.”
As to why there were so many new hires this year, Mr. Farrell commented that “this year was sort of a perfect storm of numbers. In previous years we’ve only had nine or ten new faculty members, but turnover is a good thing at a boarding school, especially because we get to bring these fresh new faces to campus.”
