Teaching on familiar grounds

A preparatory school for college.
When thinking about the purpose of St. Mark’s, many people may consider this description. They imagine school as a place where once boys leave for college and march into their future, never looking back. For most schools, this is the case. But, something about the school in particular has graduates returning to campus year after year.
Language Department Chair and Spanish Teacher Zachary Erwin ‘96, an eight year Marksmen, came back after years of teaching at the graduate and high school level in 2018 to teach Spanish.
“What brought me back was that I heard that there was a position open for both a Spanish teacher and a new department chair,” said Erwin. “I had been considering the idea of going back into preparatory school teaching, and so I decided to apply. I knew that if I came back to St Mark’s, I would find really bright students, and I would enjoy working here.”
After nearly 22 years of separation from campus, the school had changed drastically in several areas: The literal campus and even the “culture” and attitudes of students. While this could have been a shock for more distant alumni, for Erwin it felt like home.
“I don’t think there was anything that really surprised me because I had been back several times to visit,” said Erwin. “I came back for the funeral of one of my favorite teachers. At one point, I had been back for a reunion, and I had come back to visit with some of the teachers that were really important to me that are still here. So I had sort of seen the changes at school, and a lot of what’s here now is like it was here when I was a kid.”

While most teachers who come back to campus are much older and are set on teaching as their career path, Arnav Lahoti ‘24, who is studying applied math at the University of Texas, will consider a return to school much later on in his life.
“I think I would consider coming back to teach math when I’m in my 50’s or 60’s,” Lahoti said. “The community on campus is really connected, it’s much smaller so it’s tight-knit. The teachers, administration, and students are really supportive and well-connected.”
Additionally, Lahoti believes in the wide range of options that faculty are given. Whether it is sponsoring a club, coaching sports, taking advantage of various programs, or connecting with the school’s vast alumni network, the beauty of being a teacher is that, like students, opportunities on campus are endless.
A teacher’s relationship with their students is integral to a healthy learning environment. Not only are students more able to grasp information, but teachers can learn more from their students as well. Because Erwin filled the shoes of a Marksman, he truly knows who they are as people, and this assists him in his teaching.
“I think even though times have changed, I do have a good sense of what it feels like to be a St Mark’s kid, and I think I have a pretty good sense of what St. Mark’s boys are and of the pressures that St. Mark’s boys are under,” Erwin said. “But also of what St Mark’s boys are capable of. And I also feel like I’m carrying on the example of the teachers that taught me, and I know that if they had high standards, it was because they cared about us and loved us and wanted to achieve great things.”
While the experience of a Marksman is a unique one, returning alumni such as Erwin are able to understand what it means to live by the school’s motto of courage and honor. For them, there is never a dull moment when at the school they called home for so long.
“I think if somebody is really meant to be a teacher, I don’t think it’s hard to find passion,” Erwin said. “I think if you really love your subject area and you really love sharing it with other people, then it’s easy to do.”
In Erwin’s 20 years of teaching, he has helped several students along their paths towards becoming teachers. As both a college professor and grade school teacher, he has fostered in them the same love that was given to him as a teenager. While none of his former St. Mark’s students have taken up the chalk and whiteboard just yet, Erwin hopes that as his time at the school continues, so too will his legacy.
“Hopefully somebody in one of my classes will have caught the teaching bug in the same way that I caught it from Señora Marmion, but only time will tell,” Erwin said.