By Ivy Li ’23 & Coco Chen ’24
We are finally at the end of this unprecedentedly challenging 2020-2021 school year! Over the past year, we have learned to navigate our life despite many obstacles and difficulties. However, we could not have done it without the help and support of our fantastic faculty. After this successful school year, we are bidding farewell to five caring and devoted faculty members that have contributed so much to our community with their tremendous efforts: Dr. Bonhomme, Mr. Camp, Ms. Cook, Mr. Corliss, and Mr. Geraghty.
Dr. Bonhomme:
Since he arrived at St. Mark’s in 2019, Dr. Bonhomme has been a devoted French Teacher, coach, and advisor. As a teacher, Dr. Bonhomme “strives to use his gifts of empathy and curiosity to make a difference in his students’ lives.” As for his most unforgettable experience in the classroom, Dr. Bonhomme recalls doing a dance activity with his French III class. While the students were following the moves on the TV screen and competing with each other, they also asked Dr. Bonhomme to dance. Under the encouragement of his students, Dr. Bonhomme danced, and one of the students kept a recording of the dance. To this day, he still doesn’t know where the video is, but this is “something that he will keep in his mind.” In addition, he also enjoys “designing engaging learning opportunities for his students and building empathic relationships with them.” As a teacher, he believes that students “give him the necessary motivation to move forward,” and highly appreciates all of his students.
Mr. Camp:
Mr. Camp has had a tremendous impact on the St. Mark's community in the last 13 years, serving as English teacher, Department Head, coach, advisor, and most recently as Director of Experiential Learning.
Upon his departure, Mr. Camp says: “I have such deep gratitude to St. Mark's for the Beijing and Seoul trip. Seeing former students, current students, and prospective students in their home countries was so impactful. That was not only a highlight of my St. Mark's 13-year tenure but also of my life.”
When asked about his plan for the future, Mr. Camp says: “I am moving on to a completely new school, New England Innovation Academy, where I will be a 'Founding Faculty Member' teaching Humanities and helping to build all aspects of the school that is opening its doors in September.”
We wish him all the best in his future career.
Ms. Cook:
Ms. Cook has served as Classics teacher and Department Head, multiple varsity sports coach, House Head of Burnett House, House resident, and advisor over her 11 years. In her interview on her departure, she said she had both exciting big adventures and small yet moving moments at St. Mark’s. Once, she took fourteen students to Greece and ate in a restaurant where a musician came in and expected them to dance. Though they did not feel pleased initially, they enjoyed learning Greek folk dance until the restaurant closed. Another notable moment happened on a typical Sunday in Maple/Elm. She was called to look over some discipline issues, which turned out to be a surprise birthday party. We wish her all the best in her future career.
Mr. Corliss:
During his four years at St. Mark's, Mr. Corliss has served as Science teacher (Environmental Science, Biology, and Chemistry), House Head, basketball and crew coach (most recently serving as the Girls Head crew coach), and advisor. Caleb has also been an integral part of the school’s Community and Equity work, particularly in his leadership with faculty.
In his interview, he says that his favorite memory was about St. Mark’s girls’ crew team racing with Groton’s team. Even though they lost to Groton by less than a second, Groton completely changed their team’s line-up the next day, apparently impelled by their narrow win. Mr. Corliss is still proud of this accomplishment despite their loss.
We wish Mr. Corliss the best in his future journey.
Mr. Geraghty:
In Mr. Geraghty’s 15 years at St. Mark’s, he was both a dedicated Physics teacher and a hockey and lacrosse coach. Mr. Geraghty’s most memorable experience was when the St. Mark’s Hockey Team won the New England Championships back in 2015 and 2016. None of this success was expected in both cases, but through cooperations and teamwork, the players summed up to be something that “was much greater than the individual parts.”
Next year, Mr. Geraghty expects to continue to teach and coach in North Carolina. In the future, he also looks forward to moving to the Boston area, where his wife would serve as the president and executive officer of a Swiss biotechnology company.
Ms. Lee:
In Ms. Lee’s nine years at St. Mark’s, she has served as the Associate Dean of Students/Director of Residential Life. She lives at SM with her husband Korey and sons Kaleb and Kason. As a passionate, caring, and dedicated teacher, she will be missed by all the students.
We wish her all the best in her future life.
Mr. Studevan
Mr. Studevan joined the St. Mark’s Community in 2018 as Assistant Director of College Admissions. During his time here he coached Football and Basketball and served as a dorm parent in Sawyer. We will all miss Mr. Studevan and wish him all the best.
Despite the limitations presented by Covid-19, faculty and students have made the most out of the past year. While we will miss all of the teachers parting from St. Mark’s this year, we will all wish them the very best!