by Eshaal Ahmed
Month: February 2023
Mr. Ris: A Passionate Educator
By Rebecca Polgar ’24
One of the most influential teachers in Sem’s long history is Stephen Ris. He, along with a few other teachers, will be retiring at the end of the school year. When asked about how he felt about his retirement, he spoke about his bittersweet, mixed emotions. Exciting future plans are tainted by sadness of a long career of teaching he’s sad to leave behind.
After teaching for 44 years, Ris has obtained a unique skill to portray straightforward ideas to his students with a passion that means history never gets boring. One of the classes he’s most proud of is one of Sem’s most unique classes. AP Seminar, a combination of American Literature and U.S. History, offers a discussion based class that has a strong emphasis on a higher level of analysis and connects the two subjects to make understanding stronger. He told me he’s seen generations graduate from his classes and move onto bigger and better things.
With the encouragement of Mr. Chace, who teaches the English portion of Seminar, Ris hopes to start writing more poetry once he retires. He also has plans to travel and visit his kids and granddaughters in Seoul, South Korea and Alexandria, Virginia. Among more travel plans are a trip to the American Southwest and Myrtle Beach.
When asked about his impact on students, he said he hopes to help students think for themselves and enjoy the pursuit of discovery of knowledge. He urges students to not sacrifice passion for financial gain when saying, “Do what you love and do it with all your heart, the money will come.” Ris’s last remark, though a cliche one, he retorts, is nonetheless true: “Follow your passion.” Passion is what has driven Ris to do the work he loves, and he hopes students will find that spark that’s all their own, and nurture it.
Favorite Faculty Books
By Helena Prusak ’23
Ms. Miller
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
“Tom Jones is a humorous novel written in the 1700s. It’s about an illegitimate son of a servant who is adopted by a squire. Everyone is convinced he is the legitimate son of the squire. Jones falls in love with his virtuous neighbor, Sarah. He goes on a variety of adventures that show the contrast between his naive nature, the virtue of Sarah, and the evil of his half brother. It’s my favorite book because everytime I read it, I get something new out of it.”
Mrs. Shafer
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
“I read it sophomore year in high school and it really opened my eyes to a whole new world. My teacher let me keep it, even though it was the school’s copy, and I still have it to this day! I’m actually going to reread it again after I finish Mad Honey.”
Ms. McLaughlin
Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger
“Why is it my favorite? I guess because it’s interesting. Like most high school kids, I was assigned The Catcher in the Rye, and from there I became interested in the guy who invented Holden Caulfield. Salinger was a brilliant and eccentric man; he lived almost all his life as a recluse, and refused to let his works be commercialized or reinvented in any way—to the point where every single book cover was exactly the same. No art—nothing. He was intensely private, and he didn’t churn out a ton of work…but the work he did put out is so captivating. Much of it is about a family he imagined, the Glass family. If you’ve read “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” then you already know the fate of Seymour Glass. But the books are quirky and playful and also smart and illuminating. It’s not the kind of book I’d ever want to teach, but one that I’d highly recommend.”
Mr. Chace
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
“As I tell my Love Gone Wrong class every year (we read the book in this class), The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is my favorite book of all time. The writing is beautiful, subtle, haunting, and heartbreaking, and the story revolves around memory and missed opportunities, either due to personality clashes, conflicts between personal and professional lives, or societal constraints. The idea that two people who clearly love each other can never make it work, can never even fully express their love, and can’t ever change their past is devastating, and I guess I would much rather be devastated by art and literature. As a result, Ishiguro has also become my favorite author.”