As returning students and colleagues come back to school, a new English teacher awaits them. Mx. Wolff-King teaches freshmen and sophomore English and also serves as an advisor.
Sophomore Oscar Williams is currently in Mx. Wolff-King’s English class. He has been a student at Hackley for 11 years and has met many different teachers along the way.
“My first impression of him is that he’s definitely very nice so far. He definitely feels like he’s supportive and is trying to understand us as people in our English class, ” Williams said.
A big part of teaching is having a good relationship with students and getting to know each other on a personal level, so everyone feels comfortable.
“Something that stuck out to me is that he always has us do the Bandle at the beginning of every class. If you don’t know what the Bandle is, it’s the music version of Wordle. And that gives me a perspective into his life a little bit, and that he cares about music,” Williams said.
Bandle before every class seems like the perfect quick icebreaker and transition into the class. Students love it when teachers do activities like that because it’s a nice way to shift from talking with friends and being outside to being back in the classroom environment.
Every teacher has qualities that make them unique.
“I would say during discussions, he’s a bit more laid back than other teachers might have been in the past, like Doc. Rob, he definitely used more questions to guide us in discussion. The class is very discussion-oriented, so that’s kind of similar to classes in the past,” Williams said.
All English classes are heavily based on Harkness-style discussion, which is why almost all English classrooms are furnished with Harkness tables instead of individual desks.
Mx. Wolff-King recently taught at Choate Rosemary Hall and Philips Exeter Academy. He wanted to teach at Hackley because “Hackley’s the first time I’ve been a full-fledged faculty member, you know, continuing appointments, and is carrying a full load, et cetera, and that was something I was looking for, after a fellowship at Exeter and an internship at Choate.”
Hackley teaches English and History through Harkness, something that Mx. Wolff-King values.
“I think Hackley has made a very intentional shift towards Harkness, and that’s something I have a lot of experience with, and so I think that is a lot of how I initially connected with Hackley,” he said.
During his first day, one of the icebreaker questions they asked was, “What’s something you could talk about for hours?” His personal response was ultimate frisbee and board games, giving his students a glimpse into what they’re hobbies are, and what they do after leaving the classroom.
“I play ultimate frisbee semi-competitively. It keeps me moving, it’s joyful, and I’ve met really great people, and I’ve been able to travel to places that I never would have for it.” Ultimate frisbee is a less frequently played sport, it’s exciting to know somebody who plays a sport outside of the classics like soccer, basketball, or lacrosse.
Alongside ultimate frisbee, they said board games are one of their favorite hobbies.
“I love table-top games, like different role-playing games, and just like any kind of board game, right now I’m loving one called Wing-Span, which is about birds.” Wing-Span is a card-driven and engine-building board game designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and Stonemaier Games.
Not surprisingly, English teachers love to read, including Mx. Wolff-King. He has loved to read ever since childhood.
“Yes, I love reading; I have been taking the train to school, and reading for pleasure on the way there and back,” Wolff-King said.
Getting different perspectives of Hackley can help improve the environment for new students and teachers alike.
Regarding his first impression of his experience at Hackly, he said, “It’s been wonderful so far. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is how outgoing and friendly the students are. I have had students who I’m not teaching, not advising, come up to me and be like – ‘Hi! Are you the new English teacher? I’m blah blah blah, and that is not something I’ve had happen elsewhere, so that is just very, very gratifying and has made me feel very welcome.”
Mr. Canterino looks forward to working alongside Mx. Wolff-King.
“It’s really nice, you always get a new perspective in there, which is great, someone who is very recently coming from a different school, which is super helpful for understanding different ways to add onto or change some of the assignments we currently have,” Canterino said.
