Elise Mott: 26 Years

26

YEARS

BY LAURIE O’NEILL

Elise Mott

Social studies teacher and service learning coordinator moves on after 26 years at Fenn

NOT EVERYONE WHO LEAVES FENN is serenaded by a colleague, in this case to the tune of “Sweet Caroline:” “Ev-er-y day you brought us warmth and sunshine…how do we cope when missing you?”

That’s what happened, though, when Elise Mott, who had been on the faculty for twenty-six years, was honored along with other departing community members at the traditional Balloon Dinner in June.

The singer was Dave Duane, and his tribute was one of many offered to Elise, who embarked on a new challenge last fall, joining the faculty of the fledgling New England Innovation Academy (NEIA) in Marlborough, MA. NEIA offers a custom curriculum informed by research at MIT’s Integrated Design and Management program and is built around the International Baccalaureate curriculum. Elise is teaching humanities and directing the service learning program.

Elise taught every grade of social studies at Fenn and served as co-head of the academic program for a year with colleague Tricia McCarthy. She served as chair of the social studies department, advisor to seventh and eighth graders, and director of the service learning program, and coached tennis, cross-country, and track and field.

Elise “puts her whole heart into teaching, says Tricia. “She is the consummate educator, always looking for ways to move her students forward.”

“Whether [Elise] was integrating the principles of ethical leadership, organizing a Model UN conference, or leading a service learning event outside of school, her teaching pushed her students to investigate their moral universe and to work on behalf of social justice.” – Faculty member Matt Ward ’00

After teaching at the Lawrenceville School, Elise moved to the Boston area to be married and saw an ad in the Boston Globe seeking a part-time humanities teacher for a combined social studies and English program at Fenn. She was hired in 1995 and moved to a full-time position the following year.

Matt Ward ’00 says that Elise “encouraged me to strive for more” and calls her “one of the most dedicated educators I’ve ever worked with.” He adds that “Whether she was integrating the principles of ethical leadership, organizing a Model UN conference, or leading a service learning event outside of school, her teaching pushed her students to investigate their moral universe and to work on behalf of social justice.”

The opportunity to mentor teachers such as Matt, whom Elise taught when he was an eighth grader, “has been one of my most rewarding experiences at Fenn,” she says.

Elise was Rob Morrison’s mentor as well, leading him “through the challenging curriculum of seventh grade Integrated Studies…with patience and professionalism,” he says. “She was a crucial sounding board with whom I could share my successes and failures my first couple of years at Fenn.”

When Jim Carter ’54 moved from being director of admissions to serving as a full-time faculty member, he says Elise “was very helpful in getting me to be a better teacher. I could be somewhat stubborn about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it, but she gave me a number of very good suggestions which I came to appreciate a good deal.”

Elise has a keen interest in multicultural education, says Tete Cobblah, retired director of diversity at Fenn. “Long before we began to diversify the curriculum, [she] was an ardent proponent of the idea that telling a story from a single perspective deprived the listener of the depth and power of the complete story.”

While a member of the Diversity Committee at Fenn, Elise traveled to Ghana with Tete and Elizabeth Cobblah for the pilot program of the Witness Tree Institute, a non-profit organization that Tete founded. The Institute engages educators in multidisciplinary learning experiences through exposure to Ghanaian history and culture. The experience, she says, was unforgettable.

Elise’s ability to “say what is honest and difficult to say” is one of her most admirable abilities, says Elizabeth. “She speaks truth to colleagues and to power with compassion and level-headedness” and is “insightful, direct, and imbued with understated passion.”

As appreciative of her Fenn experience as her colleagues are of her, Elise recalls “being welcomed and made to feel a part of the community on day one. The friendliness and sense of collaboration kept me coming back year after year.”

One of her favorite Fenn experiences is the time Walter Birge invited a group of teachers to his home in Nantucket to work on curriculum. “It was an awesome two days of brainstorming,” Elise recalls. Other cherished memories include having been mentored by Lorraine Ward, “a strong feminist who helped guide me during my years at Fenn.”

Since “adventure has always played a theme in my life,” her move to a brandnew school “follows that theme,” Elise says. “I had been thinking a lot about my second act, and this was a unique opportunity to take the leap.” She and her husband, Hugh Gaasch, have a son, Henry, an eighth grader at Fenn, and an older daughter, Leila.

Elise says she will miss the sense of community at Fenn. “I made lifelong friends,” some of whom “have watched me grow from a young woman to a fullfledged middle-aged Gen-Xer,” she says. “They have been a network of support that won’t be replicated anywhere else.”

Laurie O’Neill is a freelance writer and former teacher and writer/editor at Fenn. She lives in Concord.