Larry Allen ’09, a teacher with a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Pennsylvania, says his classics major is a great conversation starter. It also informs his work.
“Professionally, the classics have played an enormous role in influencing my teaching. When I was in graduate school, my professors often commented that I approached teaching history and social sciences from a different direction than many of my classmates. I can’t imagine teaching world history without art and literature playing a central role in the class,” Allen says.
He works in a new school in Shanghai that is a partner with a private school in Florida. In 2011, Allen was among the first foreign teachers at the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, part of an educational reform system, in Kazakhstan.
His parents, who were both teachers, his high school teachers and his Hamilton professors helped inspire his career.
“To me, the most important part of teaching is establishing a strong relationship with your students, and Hamilton’s faculty exemplifies that relationship. Hamilton’s professors are approachable, accessible and passionate about working with young people. I thought that was a pretty good model to follow,” says Allen, who would love to send some of his students to Hamilton someday.
