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5 Questions With Faculty: Dr. Mary Edmonds
Why teach at Chatham Hall?
My first visit to Chatham Hall in May 1998 felt so much like coming home that I wanted to teach here. I was first greeted by Phyllis Hunt and then interviewed by fantastic people — Dean Claudia Emerson and the English Department: Ann Beal, Alice Cromer, Bill Black, and Beth Mullen.
My first visit to Chatham Hall in May 1998 felt so much like coming home that I wanted to teach here. I was first greeted by Phyllis Hunt and then interviewed by fantastic people — Dean Claudia Emerson and the English Department: Ann Beal, Alice Cromer, Bill Black, and Beth Mullen.
When I witnessed their strong sense of community and saw how bright and committed to good teaching they were, I felt that I could fit in and contribute something possibly as lasting as they had. These people valued School traditions, dressed up for Halloween, decked themselves out in purple and gold for picnics, and loved the students. Later on in the fall of 1998, when I met department chairs Don Wood (math), Geoff Braun (history), Mary Lee Black (world languages), and Cathy LaDuke (AD), I saw further evidence of a solid community life dedicated to living with integrity, curiosity, kindness, humor, and grace.
What is one thing you wish everyone knew about teachers/being a teacher?
It takes time and energy. Period. It takes time to choose works that might resonate with students and craft assignments that allow them to think critically and creatively. To be a good teacher you need time to think and reflect. What students most want from you is your time and attention. Time is the most valuable thing we have and is often the thing in shortest supply at a boarding school where teachers continue their work outside of the classroom, late into the nights, and on weekends. We do it because we love our subject matter and we love sharing that intellectual curiosity with students.
What is your favorite item in your classroom, and why?
My favorite thing in my classroom is plural — my posters. I am delighted that students feel comfortable in my classroom and that is due to the movie, music, history, and literature posters and photographs randomly decorating the walls.
What is your favorite Chatham Hall tradition, and why?
I love the Junior Ring Hunt. I tend to teach juniors every year so I know how important that ring hunt is as a rite of passage for them. That tradition brings home the fact that the seniors are leaving and will be entrusting leadership and the care of the School to them.
What are your favorite books, authors, genres?
Edith Wharton, my dissertation author! I love the theatricality and spectacle in The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and The Custom of the Country. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass for the American classics. Jane Austen and the Brontës for British literature. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment for Russian lit. Mysteries for the genre — mysteries typically bring order and reason out of chaos, and in an uncertain world, that is most satisfying!
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What is one thing you wish everyone knew about teachers/being a teacher?
It takes time and energy. Period. It takes time to choose works that might resonate with students and craft assignments that allow them to think critically and creatively. To be a good teacher you need time to think and reflect. What students most want from you is your time and attention. Time is the most valuable thing we have and is often the thing in shortest supply at a boarding school where teachers continue their work outside of the classroom, late into the nights, and on weekends. We do it because we love our subject matter and we love sharing that intellectual curiosity with students.
What is your favorite item in your classroom, and why?
My favorite thing in my classroom is plural — my posters. I am delighted that students feel comfortable in my classroom and that is due to the movie, music, history, and literature posters and photographs randomly decorating the walls.
What is your favorite Chatham Hall tradition, and why?
I love the Junior Ring Hunt. I tend to teach juniors every year so I know how important that ring hunt is as a rite of passage for them. That tradition brings home the fact that the seniors are leaving and will be entrusting leadership and the care of the School to them.
What are your favorite books, authors, genres?
Edith Wharton, my dissertation author! I love the theatricality and spectacle in The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and The Custom of the Country. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass for the American classics. Jane Austen and the Brontës for British literature. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment for Russian lit. Mysteries for the genre — mysteries typically bring order and reason out of chaos, and in an uncertain world, that is most satisfying!
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800 Chatham Hall Circle • Chatham, VA 24531
Main Phone
+1 434.432.2941
Admissions Contact
+1 434.432.5516 • admissions@chathamhall.org
Day and boarding school for girls grades 9-12 in the Episcopal tradition.
Main Phone
+1 434.432.2941
Admissions Contact
+1 434.432.5516 • admissions@chathamhall.org
Day and boarding school for girls grades 9-12 in the Episcopal tradition.
