FACULTY FRIDAYS

An interview with Brooke Riddell, an HLS Upper School English Teacher

Where did you attend school?

I graduated from Carmel High School, where I found math difficult but was recognized as an outstanding student in life sciences my junior and senior years; consequently, when I went off to DePauw University, it was with the intent to combine my interests in writing and biology—though I had no clear idea how the two might intersect.

Is there a particular memory that stands out for you when you were a student?

Memories of my formal education seem to fall into one of two camps: the nightmare and the victory. Back then I lived in fear of dropping my lunch tray in the cafeteria or vomiting during history class. Now those horrors have settled in my mind along as if they actually took place. Weird, huh?  Fortunately, the recollections in my "victory" bucket are of the nonfiction type. Mostly they involve positive interaction with caring instructors and their recognition for a job well done. Those moments of sincere praise by instructors whom I greatly respected continue to remain dear and now guide me in how I interact with young people and their best efforts. The surest path to being irrelevant to young people is to offer them unearned praise. Flattery may feel good in the moment, but there is no better nourishment for self-doubt.  

What attracted you to HLS and what have you learned about yourself after working for this school? What inspires you?

I am inspired by the students who graduate from HLS. They have a substantial foundation born from excellent parenting and a methodical, mastery-oriented education. While at HLS, these fabulous young men and women have known quality and they have known hard work. As they meet their future, they'll know of what they are capable--their time at HLS an important touchstone for those moments to come when they allow themselves to fall short or find themselves intimidated by a difficult task—and they'll be able to distinguish instruction from the smoke and mirrors of salesmen offering anything less. After watching students mature and work with diligence during their high school years, when they cross the stage for that diploma, hope for their future and our country's really does fill my heart.  

What do you want HLS parents to know about you? What are your hobbies, interests, passions?

Aside from my relationship with Christ and my family, you should know that I can't wait to teach your children when they reach high school. Classical Christian education is my hobby, my interest, and my passion. If I won the lottery, I would start interviewing families and find families like yours but are without the financial ability to send their children to HLS. Families like you are the key to unlocking all that this type of education offers. If a school like HLS has the family culture that you work on every given day, the possibility of making an average kid great and making a strong student better is limitless. Each year at graduation I think about the hundreds of thousands of graduates who were insufficiently educated or insufficiently challenged and I think, The intellectual waste at this point in history is unforgivable.

What would you say to someone considering sending their children to HLS?

Parents considering HLS should make time to read at least one book about the nature of classical education. Even better, they ought to form at least one book group with other parents and read something together. Classical education is built from the back-end forward. This means an HLS education has an 18-year old in mind and then it starts planning senior year, then junior, then sophomore and the others all the way back to kindergarten. Think parenting, which is pretty much the same thing. What would happen if you stopped your parenting plan after fifth grade or middle school? Stopped having your kids attend church after ninth grade? Our logical faculties and overactive imaginations can finish those timelines, right? Classical education also has a K-12 plan for making a lifelong learner of your children. Since parenting is one of those things we do from the trenches, a good book on classical education can pull you out of there long enough for you to glimpse that end result you're working for.