For this interview, I decided to have a conversation with my high school head of school and my English teacher for two years, Daniel T. Roach. While at St. Andrew’s, Mr. Roach taught me how crucial and vital literature is and how it can be much more than just a story. He helped me read into books and texts to find what is missing, the depth of the characters, and how intentional all of the choices the authors make for their characters, technique, or word choice. As a parent of a Wesleyan alum, and a graduate of the NESCAC, Mr. Roach seemed like a great person to learn from, especially with his focus on the English field.
During my interview with Mr. Roach, I asked him how his education at a small liberal arts college set him up or held him back from what he chose to do with his career. Mr. Roach found that a liberal arts education was beneficial for his career in English, especially taking the path of education and teaching. He found that with a liberal arts education, he was set up well to teach in a high school and to see how he can get through to his students the best. He also mentioned how it was nice to be part of other disciplines with this type of education so that he could use these perspectives to have more diverse readings of English and texts. Furthermore, Mr. Roach spoke about his appreciation for going to grad school at the Bread Loaf School of Middlebury College. He enjoyed developing his English skills and working alongside other scholars and educators.
I also asked him what he thought of his career in teaching and what skills he thought grew the most as a teacher. Mr. Roach described how teaching has grown to be his passion; as a head of school he was not required to teach, but he loved it so much that he wanted to continue to do so. He found that he learns and gains more knowledge from his students than he could learn in any other setting. He expressed his thankfulness for his students and how they help him think deeper about a text. Even as a retired teacher, he continues to work with organizations such as the Equal Justice Initiative to further develop education in other schools and change how the curriculum is taught and developed in schools, especially in terms of diversity and inclusion.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Mr. Roach and how his education intersected with his career. I thought it was powerful to hear about his perspective on teaching, and it gave me a chance to see what it would be like if I wanted to teach.
