Following the retirement of English teacher Matt Morello in June, Townsend Harris has hired Dr. Sean Nolan to teach AP English Literature and the Senior Humanities Seminar at Queens College.
Speaking to The Classic, Dr. Nolan said that he believes teaching students to read and analyze literature helps them “become better thinkers and more engaged people in the world, because when you read a work of literature…it can really open a lot of doors.”
Before working at THHS, Dr. Nolan taught at Baruch College, Hunter College, Queens College, and Cardinal Spellman Catholic School. At these institutions, he specialized in teaching college-level writing. He said he feels the school environment is helping him make a seamless transition: “The curriculum at Townsend is more flexible and more rigorous.”
In addition to teaching students to be better thinkers in general, he also said that he wants his students to link what they learn in class with the real world. Reading with a critical eye and making connections can help people dig deeper, he said, whether it be through a poem or something as big as a play or novel.
“In a very broad sense, my biggest priority is encouraging students to make connections where they might not expect to find them,” Dr. Nolan said. “Everything is connected…and connections are just waiting for you to find them.”
Principal Brian Condon directly supervises the THHS English department. In his absence last spring, he asked a committee of teachers in the English Department to oversee hiring. The committee was led by English teachers Ryan Dunbar and Brian Sweeney. Mr. Dunbar told The Classic that they hired Dr. Nolan because he possessed many of the qualities that they were looking for. Mr. Dunbar said that the committee found that he had “good content knowledge,” and a passion for literature as well. In June, Dr. Nolan guest taught a lesson in Mr. Sweeney’s sophomore English class (called a “demo lesson”). The students gave his lesson very positive feedback, Mr. Dunbar said. knew what he wanted to teach, along with how he was going to accomplish it. All these traits
Junior Shaw Williams is currently in Dr. Nolan’s AP English Literature class. He said that Dr. Nolan “allows his students to feel comfortable […] by making sure they are always free to ask questions.”
“Dr. Nolan would speak about his personal experiences keeping students engaged in class,” said Jayden Mejia, another junior student in Dr. Nolan’s class.
Junior Arnab Sarker said, “He tries to joke around with the same sense of humor as the students.”
Mr. Dunbar said that Dr. Nolan received similar compliments from the students in the demo lesson. He had “excellent rapport with students from the demo lesson,” Mr. Dunbar said.
Additionally, Dr. Nolan said he’s worked with students who come to high school with varying levels of readiness to get to work. But in THHS, he said he immediately noticed a difference. “The students came in ready to work on day one […] [and] the students I’ve encountered here are very well prepared,” Dr. Nolan said.
