Almost everyone has found a teacher who they’ve truly connected with. Their class can make the worst days a little better, and seeing their smiling face in the hallway can make a crisis seem slightly less stressful. For over two decades, history and social studies teacher Christopher Connole has prioritized establishing connections with his students through his personal teaching style, and he is now transferring these goals to a new position at WA.
Connole has taken on an additional role in the Westford Public Schools district as the curriculum coordinator of the History and Social Studies Department in light of previous curriculum coordinator Adam Ingano’s new position as principal of Blanchard Middle School.
According to Connole, he has intentionally stayed away from administrative positions over the course of his teaching career, but after several encouraging conversations with colleagues, Connole decided to apply for the role.
“A number of people were very supportive of me taking [the position] on, and that felt good, and I appreciated that,” Connole said. “It wasn’t something I was looking for, but the opportunity was there, and I had support and felt like it was a good match.”
Despite his reluctance to take on the new role, members of Connole’s department have been encouraging him to consider the opportunity for years.
“I believe after a year or two as the [social studies curriculum coordinator in 2018 or 2019], I started asking [Connole] if he would ever be willing to become the coordinator,” Ingano said. “I think Mr. Connole was the ideal choice to lead the Social Studies Department; he has a wealth of successful classroom experience that all teachers will benefit from for years to come.”
With his interview being on the last day of school this past June, Connole had to make several quick shifts when he learned that he had been selected for the position.
One of the most significant shifts Connole made in preparation for his new responsibilities was taking a step back from teaching. Though he will still be teaching Western Civilization Honors, Connole will no longer be instructing any U.S. History classes.
Connole describes his initial interest in history and his subsequent path to teaching.
“I am so excited that Mr. Connole chose to still teach a class, even with his growing schedule,” senior Sabrina Berthold said. “Personally, my friends and I jumped at the opportunity to be in one of his classes, so we banded together to [take the] Western Civilization class. […] I hope he continues to teach at least one class in the future, so incoming students can appreciate his class as much as my friends and I do.”
Connole’s attachment to teaching students has made letting go of multiple class sections difficult, but student-teacher Ariella Fleischer, who recently taught in his classroom, reduced his hesitancy to take on a new role in the building.
“I had a student teacher last year, and that was the first time I really let go of my classroom and it was okay. […] I had a student teacher about six or seven years ago, and I had a hard time letting go, because you want to be part of that classroom,” Connole said. “You don’t want to give up your kids [but my experience last year] helped me understand that it’s okay [to] let go.”
Connole explains the first time he realized his passion for teaching.
With the new role, Connole also saw an opportunity to bring a teacher’s perspective directly to an administrative position. According to Connole, he hopes that having first-hand experience of the effects of new classroom policies will allow him to make adjustments that benefit students and staff. By continuing to teach, Connole aims to be a better advocate for the needs of classrooms.
“I think that if you remove yourself from the classroom — all those day-to-day issues that teachers face — you lose touch with it,” Connole said. “[…] If a new policy is coming in, and I still have that class, I can understand better […] and then I can better advocate for our teachers. So I think that touchstone with the kids, and with the experiences, is really important.”
In pursuit of his goal to be an active voice for teachers, Connole has made building stronger relationships with his colleagues one of his first objectives as curriculum coordinator.
Throughout his teaching career, Connole has prioritized open communication and friendly discussions with his students. Now, as his focus also moves toward supporting educators, Connole wants to ensure that he builds strong relationships with all of WA’s faculty.
“One thing I’ve also realized, being in the classroom for [25 to 26] years, is I know what I do, but I also need to realize that there’s other ways to do it, and being open to the other ways [of teaching] is something I’m looking forward to,” Connole said. “It helps when there was nothing wrong with our department and it was easy to transition into it because Mr. Ingano did a really nice job.”
Connole’s goals for connection will also extend beyond WA, as a considerable portion of his new responsibilities will involve checking in with the middle school social studies teachers. In order to balance his meetings with middle school faculty with teaching Western Civilization at WA, Connole will have to consider both WA’s rotating schedule and the appropriate times to visit Stony Brook and Blanchard.
“The curriculum coordinators are some of the unsung heroes of this district; the job requires you to work on so many different things at once, all to support the teachers and enhance learning for the students,” Ingano said. “Seeing [Connole] take on this challenge lets me know that now all students, not just the ones that enroll in his classes, will benefit from his hard work.”
As of now, Connole plans to visit the schools twice a week with a focus on observing their lessons and improving the eighth-grade civics project process. In the future, he hopes to introduce more district-wide extracurricular activities relating to history and social studies that will enrich students’ learning and their experiences with the subjects.
Connole discusses some of his ideas for the department and how he plans to balance his priorities.
Although he expressed excitement about the opportunities he expects to pursue in his new role, according to Connole, the reduction in day-to-day interactions he has with students has been a weighty drawback.
To continue fostering his relationship with the student body, Connole hopes to retain at least one class to teach, whether it be an elective like Western Civilization or a required U.S. History class.
“There are still a lot of kids [whom] I can say ‘hi’ to who know me. I know them because I’ve been in the classroom. I have thought about, in two years, will that still be the same? And I don’t think it will be,” Connole said. “I like walking the halls and recognizing people and stopping to talk with kids. And I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that as much in two or three years, because they won’t know who I am. So keeping that one class is important for me. Maybe it won’t be an elective. Maybe it’d be a core class, so I can see more kids.”
