This year, a new face will occupy room 478. Rex Shannon joins the English Department, teaching ninth grade Reading and Writing Across the Genres and the electives Shakespeare and Comedy & Literature. “Across all my courses, I’ll try to create a discussion-based course, not a lecture-based one,” Shannon said. He plans on making his classes both educational and engaging. “This means that much of what we learn will be driven by the questions, comments, ideas, and energies that the students bring to discussion. I also try to give ample opportunities for creative work alongside analytical work: short stories, poems, personal essays, etc.”
Shannon believes that English class is mostly about stories and story-telling. “I also think a sense of humor is important to have in the classroom. English class is often incredibly serious. We often read difficult, sad, or even harrowing texts. It’s important, I think, to balance this with some levity and joy, too,” Shannon said.
Shannon became interested in teaching English during his freshman English class. “Our summer reading was “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, and on the first day of class, my English teacher Mr. Moffat asked us if we knew what the word “stolid” meant. None of us did! He then made a passionate case for learning the definitions of all the words we encounter.”
Shannon sees literature as a “portal to discover not only new words but new people, places, and ideas.” The decision to teach English “was easy. It feels like incredibly important work to do for others what Mr. Moffat did for me. I want to help my students unlock whole new words (and worlds). I want to help open the portal for others,” Shannon said.
Shannon has taught at two schools in California, Sacred Heart Preparatory and Lick-Wilmerding. At Lick-Wilmerding, he usually taught seniors in seminar-style classes.
Shannon is excited to be a part of the Parker community. “I am most excited to become more deeply involved in Parker’s community beyond the English classroom. I would love to coach a sports team, help out the chess club, attend student performances, and more,” Shannon said. He was drawn to the Parker mission statement, saying he is particularly inspired by the part that emphasizes being a “responsible citizen” in a “global community.” When asked how he plans on reflecting this in his teaching, Shannon said, “I aim to show students that what we do in the English classroom extends everywhere and touches everything, that reading and writing are not trivial intellectual exercises but rather sacred training grounds for the very fabric of our political and moral being.”
Shannon elaborated. “This means that we don’t read James Baldwin, for example, in a vacuum, just to read Baldwin. We read Baldwin to better dismantle white solidarity, or to better challenge our hetero-normative biases, or to better understand the experience of an American exile. Thus, I encourage the lessons and lenses gleaned from literature to be lived out every day.”
Shannon was a great fit for what the Student Interview Representative Board (SIRB) was hoping to find in a new English teacher. “We interviewed four potential English teachers, and what we were looking for within candidates was a solid fit into the Parker mission and morals. This was a big priority, but we also looked at which of the teachers got along best with the students, and which ones made class interesting and engaging. We also looked at which teachers the students seemed most passionate about learning with, and we asked the students which ones they liked most,” SIRB member Angela Vlaovic said.
The English department is excited for Shannon to join them in the Upper School. English teacher Matt Laufer’s first impression of Shannon was “really positive: he seemed genuinely passionate about literature, working with young adults, and collaborating with colleagues. He was strikingly upbeat, enamored of the work, super smart, and creative. Plus a Joyce scholar, a specialist in teaching Shakespeare, and a generalist in all the ways one needs to be in a high school. What a find!”
Shannon hopes to share his enthusiasm for writing and literature with his students. “As a student, it always meant so much to me when a teacher visibly cared about their material. I try to show just how passionate I am about literature;—which is easy, because I’m really quite passionate about it!”
