We have a new addition to the Wayne Hills family who unexpectedly joined us at the start of the third marking period. This is the new English teacher, Mr. Whitermore. It has been a month since he started here, so why don’t we get to know him more?
Mr. Benjamin Thayer Whitermore has been teaching since 2014, marking this year as his 10th year in the classroom. He started off teaching in Conestoga High School, located in Wayne, Pennsylvania. When asked why he chose teaching, he explained it simply: “I knew I wanted to do something with language and be there to influence others. My freshman year of college I was in a physician’s program at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, but after a year of classes, I realized I wouldn’t be happy doing this in the long run. So, I made the decision to transfer to West Chester University in Chester County, PA, in order to become a teacher.”
Everyone remembers that one kid growing up who was always sitting on the playground reading while all the other kids were playing. That was Mr. Whitermore. “I have always been a big fan of reading. I vividly remember my dad reading me bedtime stories when I was young and absolutely loving it. Whether it is historical, informative, fantasy, or fictional, I like expressing my opinions and ideas, and I want to be there to help my students do the same,” he expressed. Mr. Whitermore also talked about how his love for history influenced his decision: “I’ve always been a history buff, interested in the past of why things are the way they are. I almost wanted to be a history teacher, but I realized that literature is such an important part of history, and I can teach history in an English classroom a lot more than I can teach English in a history classroom.”
Now, onto the fun stuff. Moving to Wayne Hills has been great for Mr. Whitermore. He said that although it hasn’t been too long since he came to Hills, he loves it here. He enjoys how much freedom the English department has in what and how they teach, so he hasn’t had to change his ways of teaching too much. He is currently teaching 2 freshman honors classes and 3 British literature classes, and says there is “lots of interest and good conversation, even from the kids who seem uninterested in English itself.” Mr. Whitermore also talks about his favorite books to teach, plays, and how he hopes to inspire others to enjoy them too. “I like to get people involved with the parts and scenes, and I think it gets the students more invested in what we are reading.”
If you’re looking for some book recommendations, don’t hesitate to ask Mr. Whitermore. One of his favorite plays is “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, which he describes as “beautifully written, intimate, and character-driven instead of plot-driven.” Another book he recommended was “Severance” by Ling Ma, a dystopian story set in New York and Pennsylvania where once infected, a person would dissociate and become mindless instead of dying. If plays and dystopian novels aren’t your speed, he has hundreds of other recommendations to give that you may like better, just go down to room 212 or the English office and ask!
