Introducing New Faculty and Staff! - Adam Derington

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing our new faculty and staff in Roeper news posts. They were nice enough to complete a questionnaire telling us something about themselves and our two Directors, Lower School, Megan Stott and Middle/Upper School Susannah Nichols added first person observations. Thank you all! 

 

I’m happy to be joining Roeper as a Social Studies/Humanities teacher in the Middle School. I’ll be primarily responsible for leading 7^th grade American History and teaching a selection of electives as the year goes on.

 

 

Between 2017 and 2020 I lived and studied in Boston, Massachusetts where I was a graduate student and museum professional. It was an amazing opportunity to live in such a vibrant community and meet thousands of people who come to learn about the incredible history of such a revolutionary city.

 

If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be and why?  

 

A dream of mine would be to spend a year living and travelling in the British Isles. As a lover of history, I’m drawn to the vast and interesting histories on offer from all periods of history. From the prehistoric to the modern, it would be a dream come true to spend so much time on such a historical pilgrimage.

 

 

I was born and raised in Berkley, MI and I have a big mixed family. I’m one of five siblings, an uncle three times over, and have dozens of cherished cousins. My partner Andrea, our cat Raisin, and I currently live in Auburn Hills.

 

 

Outside of work, I enjoy video and board games, kayaking, swimming, reading, film, theatre, and community activism. I’m very thankful for the incredible group of friends I have who help ease my challenges and celebrate my successes with their camaraderie and solidarity.

 

 

I’m incredibly passionate about the power of history and the narratives we tell each other. To me, history is not about just putting interesting things in a case and admiring the view. History can be an ethical practice of self and collective reflection that gets us to ask questions about who we are, where we come from, and challenges us to create a better world.

   

 

Roeper is a unique community; I’ve found myself drawn most to the values and principles embedded in the philosophy and ethos of the school. I value the efforts at shared decision making that includes students and other members of the community which transforms the relationship between those who help guide our learning and those who learn into one of collaboration and deliberation. To me, those efforts align with what I think being in a learning community is all about.