Introducing New Teachers

By Claire Cho ’28 and Joy Kim ’28

This year, the St. Mark’s community welcomed new faculty members. With several weeks passed since Convocation, teachers were selected for an interview on how their time at St. Mark’s has been so far. Please greet them with a warm welcome!

Dr. Davis teaches classics, and this year he is teaching 4 sections of intermediate and advanced Latin. In his free time, he likes to go to the movies, play tennis, and play with his cat. His time so far has been really busy, but it’s been a lot of fun to get to know the students and other teachers and to learn about the culture and traditions of St. Mark’s. His favorite snack to get from the dining hall are cookies, when they have them. By the end of the year, he hopes his students can experience and appreciate the beauty and joy of the language: “Latin is a difficult language and learning requires a lot of memorization and practice, like learning an instrument. But, like an instrument, it’s also beautiful and fun.”

Mr. David Gammons was appointed to teach and direct theater at St. Mark’s during Mr. Kent’s yearlong sabbatical. His love for theater took him to teaching in boarding schools such Concord Academy and eventually to direct professional plays. In fact, he is currently working on two professional plays in the Boston area: Down in the valley by Kurt Weill and Hamlet by Shakespeare. In coming back to teach in boarding schools after an 11 year departure from them, Mr. Gammons expressed his excitement in again securing an opportunity to work with high school students whom he described as unusually passionate, talented, and diverse. In his free time Mr. Gammons enjoys reading, exploring, traveling, and swimming. He considers Shakespeare to be his favorite playwright of all time and feels most compelled by Macbeth - Titus Andronicus being a close follow-up. Moreover, he is also drawn to the works of Tennesse Williams, whose books, such as “A Streetcar Named Desire”, became infamous for their literary merit. Mr. Gammon looks forward to familiarizing his students with themes in theater they may be unfamiliar with, including the theatrical traditions from the 1600s, the works of the ancient Greeks, and also Sanskrit theater.

Mr. Ryan Farrington teaches one section of III form English and has joined St. Mark’s this year as the director of library and digital learning. Mr. Farrington came from California and he loves to explore his surroundings in his free time. His favorite snack from the dining hall is iced coffee, as it benefits the bulk of his to-do list. He greatly appreciates the landscape West Campus provides. Also he has expressed interest to explore the hiking trails behind West Campus. He wants to work on making the library a more comfortable place for students. The design of the library changed a lot this year and he confirmed that he will continue to renovate the library to accommodate more books and students. Furthermore, he advocates and plans for more textbooks in students’ curriculums to be included in the library to support their academics. Mr. Farrington also devised a lease system to ensure books are circulated often and to encourage students to read more and explore more.