Richard Volz

PROFILES IN EDUCATION

Candace Braun

Name: Richard Volz
School: Hun School
Years Taught: Four years
Subject/Grade Taught: 9th and 10th grade English
Education: Hun School; bachelors in comparative literature, Princeton University; masters in education, The College of New Jersey
Most Memorable Book: Inferno, by Dante Alighieri
Person You Admire: "I really admire my dad because of how hard he works and how unselfish he is. He's a foreman of the paint shop at Princeton University."

Attending the Hun School as a student, Richard Volz found the inspiration to become like one of the people he looked up to as a teenager.

"I was inspired by all the young guy teachers who were very enthusiastic about their subject matter. They seemed to have everything going for them, and that's what I wanted to do when I got out of college."

Now, Mr. Volz is an English teacher for freshman and sophomore students at Hun, as well as a student advisor, and assistant coach for boys' varsity soccer, girls' varsity basketball, and head coach for junior varsity baseball.

He's also a TOD, or teacher on duty, as he lives in Russell Dormitory and is available to senior male students one day a week, as well as one weekend a month.

When asked if his duties infringe on his personal life, he pointed to how being involved makes him a better teacher.

"I know every student in the senior class....When you coach, teach, and live with the same group of people you really get to understand them and help them better."

Serving as a class advisor to nine students, Mr. Volz has watched them grow from freshmen to seniors, a particularly rewarding experience this year because he will watch his first class graduate. Class advisors help run class officer meetings, organize fundraising events, and help organize the prom.

Last year when the students chose to go on a boat cruise in Philadelphia, each one shook hands with Mr. Volz as they walked on the boat, each face representing a memory to the teacher.

Now, he's helping organize the senior class trip to Orlando, the last event during their final days before graduation.

"I've followed them through the years....all the way up to their senior class trip," he said.

Mr. Volz's involvement as a teacher reflects his involvement as a student at the Hun School. Growing up in Ewing, he attended the school during his high school years, participating in varsity baseball and soccer, as well as playing the trumpet in the jazz band. He also had mentors like the late Rob Myslik, an English teacher and soccer coach at the school.

Now, coaching boys' varsity soccer, he boasts of the team's successful season this year, with the only losses being to two of the most competitive schools in the area. The girls' varsity basketball team is currently 20 to 1, and are heading to the state and Maple Leaf tournaments this week.

"This is definitely the best season the girls' basketball team has ever had here," he said.

A Friendly Face

Friendliness and consistency are the qualities Mr. Volz considers among his strengths as a teacher.

"If you know your students, they'll work for you and trust you, and I think that's important," he said.

The English teacher enjoys teaching "challenging texts" to his students, including Virgil, Homer, and Shakespeare.

"They appreciate doing the masterworks....It compliments them when you show that you feel they're capable of doing the material."

Coming back to the Hun School to teach wasn't as much of a choice for Mr. Volz, as it was a calling, he said: "It wasn't an issue of teaching public versus private for me; it was more just about how much I liked this place. I also enjoyed the idea of living on campus, because I'm so close to my family."

He also feels that the Hun School, because it is small and private, can offer much more to students: "What we really offer is a real small faculty-to-student ratio....I know every student in the senior class, and that's a good feeling at graduation."

But things at Hun have changed since he attended it, he said: "I think it's become academically more difficult....We're taking better students and we're definitely giving them harder material than when I was a student here."

In terms of general issues surrounding education in this country, Mr. Volz feels that the size of the school and the resulting lack of attention students receive can be a detriment to students' education if they attend large school districts.

"It's not easy to slip by here unnoticed. People know you here and are aware of what you like and dislike and know how to reach you."

To recommend an educator for the Profile Series in Education, contact Candace Braun.