By Couper Wainwright
This year, the Upper School history department has welcomed many new faces. From department heads to APUSH teachers, there’s been something of a refresh in recent times. One of these new faculty members is Mr. David LaVigne, who teaches APUSH and AP World.
Mr. LaVigne is from Minnesota and taught at the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, Florida, before coming to Lovett. According to Mr. LaVigne, “it was very similar to Lovett…the only difference is that we had about half as many students, so half the size of Lovett, but otherwise similar teaching, similar sort of culture as Lovett.”
In Sarasota, he taught APUSH just like he does now, but there, he taught sophomores. Although that may be different than teaching AP World to sophomores as he does now, Mr. LaVigne said that one thing remains true between both jobs: “It’s just great to see how students grow from the beginning of the year when they’re often scared to be taking an AP course to the end of the year, they’re confident and they’re ready to take three or four AP courses as a junior.”
As a new Lovett teacher, Mr. LaVigne can relate to the sophomores having to do something hard. However, Mr. LaVigne has found his colleagues to be supportive and welcoming. And talented. “[My] colleagues here are really good,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have really good history teachers.”
As an APUSH teacher, Mr. LaVigne has had a new experience working in tandem with an English teacher. However, his teaching partner, Dr. Ezell, has been supporting and helping him at every step along the way. He said it “has been really helpful as a new person because when you’re ninth graders, you come in, you’re nervous, and you’re getting used to the school. It’s similar to that when you’re a new teacher.”
Mr. LaVigne not only complimented his colleagues but his students, too, who, he says, “have been very kind, very friendly, and I’ve really appreciated that. I’ve also been very impressed by the ability of the students at the school as well. There are really, really smart kids here.” Beyond their strong skills, he recognized the ability of Lovett students to truly welcome new people, staff and students alike.
So it makes sense that his favorite experience so far was an encounter he had with a student. This student, whom he had never met before, talked to him as if they were close acquaintances. “You don’t find that everywhere,” Mr. LaVigne said.
