On Lake Park Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard, across the street from Kenwood Academy High School, former Parker music teacher Lucius Bell sat with a fellow local churchgoer at Uncle Joe’s restaurant. Bell encouraged this young aspiring history teacher to look at the school where Bell famously belted out the “Piece of the House” song. 

About one decade and one Ph.D. later, the same young teacher was conversing with the Student Interview and Recommendation Board (SIRB), hoping to teach at the fabled institution that Bell extolled. “To be honest, I’ve always wanted to teach at a school like Francis Parker,” Otis Eliot Pope, Ph.D., said his interest in Parker stemmed from his lunch conversation with Bell. “When I saw an opening in the History department recently, I jumped on it.”

At the job fair, Pope met both Principal Dan Frank and Upper School Head Justin Brandon. “I was impressed with their commitment to diversity, their commitment to excellence inside the classroom,” Pope said. “They encouraged me to apply for the History position, and I did that. From there, they contacted me for an in-person interview. I came in and I did a six- or seven-hour-long interview, and a couple of weeks later, I got a job offer.”

The Parker job offer to teach both Themes in World History, the freshman year history course, and Terrorism came after meeting with SIRB, a student government board in which students speak with Parker job applicants. Senior Jade Nguyen was a member of SIRB last year and distinctly recalls the meeting with Pope. “He left a good impression,” Nguyen said. “Right away, I could tell that he was very respectable. He said ‘hello’ to all of us, had a nice smile, had a nice posture. I got good vibes from him.” 

Nguyen got the impression that Pope, an African-American male, would bring a crucial, new perspective to Parker’s history department. “It’s hard for certain teachers to talk about some things, but, with him, he’ll definitely be more comfortable talking about controversial and sensitive subjects,” Nguyen said.

History department co-chair Andrew Bigelow, who had been requesting a new history teacher for three years because of large class sizes, also believes that Pope will add an important perspective, particularly because of Pope’s doctoral work. “He has a really interesting Ph.D. in something that I’ve always really found interesting: the role of African-Americans in the armed forces,” Bigelow said. “I can envision him someday teaching an elective on his Ph.D. That’s one of the reasons why we brought him in.”

Bigelow likes having history teachers with specific interests and skills and considerable experience, which Pope’s Ph.D. suggests he has. “One of our greatest strengths is the autonomy of teachers,” Bigelow said of Parker. “Because we’re such a unique, special place, we’re able to recruit specialized people. We’re looking for certain types of teachers and skill sets, which Dr. Pope has. It’s a great place for seasoned teachers to become stronger.”

Pope’s experience, which impressed Bigelow, consists of three years of teaching at the collegiate level at Arrupe College of Loyola University, a Ph.D. in history from Loyola, a master’s degree from DePaul, and a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College. At Arrupe College, Pope found an appreciation for the history of Western culture through a course he taught called “Western Civilization to the 17th Century,” which he thinks has prepared him well for Themes in World History at Parker. 

His interest in terrorism, the other subject he will teach, began on September 11, 2001. “I’m 40-years-old, so 9/11 took place right after I graduated from college,” Pope said. “I remember sitting on my parents’ couch watching the planes fly into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Terrorism and America’s fight against terrorism has always fascinated me because that took place during a point in my life when I was really paying attention to some of the key current events. When I saw that Parker had an actual terrorism course, I thought that this would be a great way to learn about a subject matter that fascinated me.”

Pope will tailor both the terrorism and world history courses to fit his teaching style and the needs of his students. “I know that the students at Francis Parker are outstanding, they’re curious, they’re smart,” Pope said. “I definitely want to spice it up. I want to add new and different methodologies that will hopefully tap into the brilliant minds at Francis Parker.”