Mr. Edwards Excited to Teach Classical Language at Walls

This school year has welcomed many new teachers into the Walls building. The language department in particular received Latin teacher Mr. Edwards as the replacement to the now-retired Ms. Brinley. Edwards has been a teacher for 26 years now, spending nine of those years at the nearby John Francis Education Campus. There, he primarily taught Latin, in addition to teaching art in his last year. 

Mr. Edwards’ interest in the Latin language piqued in high school when his piano teacher informed him that, in their opinion, all academic-minded people must study Latin and French. Edwards subsequently enrolled in both languages, but excelled at Latin, which he eventually declared as his college major. Today, Edwards is completely fluent in the language.

In his free time, Mr. Edwards enjoys drawing and painting. He also plays the organ at the Franciscan Monastery, located in Brookland, every Sunday. Clubs that Edwards will be sponsoring this year include Certamen (Latin quiz bowl), Latin club, and Latin Honors Society.

The majority of Latin students at Walls have had the privilege of being taught by both Ms. Brinley and Mr. Edwards. Martin Handsfield (‘29), who is in Latin II, appreciates that Mr. Edwards is incorporating Ms. Brinley’s teaching styles into his curriculum and maintaining a fun atmosphere in the classroom. Handsfield also commented on how he is “excited to see how Edwards’ ability to fluently speak Latin will affect the course”, an ability rare for many Latin teachers. 

Bix Clapp (‘29), a student in Latin I, shared this sentiment, while also noting that Mr. Edwards teaches the curriculum in a very approachable manner. She says that, “[Edwards] takes things really slow, [...] he gives a lot of visuals and does a lot of repetition, like call-and-response”. Clapp finds these methods invaluable to learning when learning a new language.

In speaking to Edwards about his experience at Walls so far, he had nothing but positive words. He feels that, at Walls, everyone is happy to be here and, most importantly, wants to succeed. In Edwards’ own words, the “persistent joy at [Walls] results in teaching feeling more like coaching and nurturing passion as opposed to dragging students along.”