Master Teacher: Trip Powers Recognized for Excellence in Teaching
As a rule, graduating VI formers widely recognized that history teacher Trip Powers has made an exceptional difference in their Millbrook education.That recognition has been reaffirmed, as the Kenan Chair for Excellence in Teaching has been awarded to Powers this year.
Headmaster Drew Casertano acknowledged the award at the 2014 Faculty Honors Dinner: Established in January 1998, The Kenan Chair for Excellence in Teaching is made possible by a generous gift from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust and, in particular, by the support of Thomas S. Kenan III. The Kenan Chair acknowledges excellent teaching, characterized by a mastery of the subject matter, a passion for the material and the students being taught, a commitment to Millbrook’s ideals, and a joy for teaching.
Just announced to the entire school last week, the news was enthusiastically received. For his part, Mr. Powers feels honored to be in the company of other master teachers who have been awarded this special chair: Kathy Havard, Bill Hardy, Walker Zeiser, and Todd Feitelson. He admits that he loves teaching because it allows for a perpetual search for truth as opposed to rightness. It’s not about being right and wrong.
"That’s the thing that got me excited about teaching – the idea of educating younger people and not teaching them a "thing" but a way to make those choices for themselves, a way to find their truths."
Mr. Powers currently teaches Modern World History, a IV form course, and two VI form electives, Anthropology and Comparative Economics. In its fourth year, the economics course covers both micro and macro economics then bridges to ecological economics via a mini unit on globalization. There are only few colleges, and fewer other boarding schools, that have developed similar courses over the past 10 years, and Powers hopes to bring teachers together in November at the NYSAIS Council on Sustainability to share what resources they have developed.
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Just announced to the entire school last week, the news was enthusiastically received. For his part, Mr. Powers feels honored to be in the company of other master teachers who have been awarded this special chair: Kathy Havard, Bill Hardy, Walker Zeiser, and Todd Feitelson. He admits that he loves teaching because it allows for a perpetual search for truth as opposed to rightness. It’s not about being right and wrong.
"That’s the thing that got me excited about teaching – the idea of educating younger people and not teaching them a "thing" but a way to make those choices for themselves, a way to find their truths."
"Beyond being a great honor, given the company I keep among all the faculty here and how I know them to be excellent teachers, in the past 20 years that I’ve been teaching, it’s an affirmation that maybe I chose wisely, that I’ve been doing the right thing."
Mr. Powers currently teaches Modern World History, a IV form course, and two VI form electives, Anthropology and Comparative Economics. In its fourth year, the economics course covers both micro and macro economics then bridges to ecological economics via a mini unit on globalization. There are only few colleges, and fewer other boarding schools, that have developed similar courses over the past 10 years, and Powers hopes to bring teachers together in November at the NYSAIS Council on Sustainability to share what resources they have developed.
