Welcome, New Hopkins Faculty!

I grew up in Clinton, CT until I was 8 years old, at which point, we moved to West Haven, CT and spent most of my life there. Currently I live in Southington with my wife Rebecca, our three boys Maxwell, Quinn, Ben, and our Maltipoo Marty. 

I have a B.S. in Business from the University of Phoenix.

I am the Director of Facilities.

As a kid I was always trying to find ways to make things better, tinkering with things, building things, challenging myself to do better. With Facilities it gives me the opportunity to do that. 

Working in education; from working in Facilities for the New Haven Board of Education, to Yale University, to Kingswood Oxford School, and ultimately here to Hopkins. The opportunity to work at, build, and care for a school with such an amazing student, faculty, and staff community is what drew me to Hopkins. The opportunity for me, and my team, to make sure we protect this property for the next 300 years is what drives me. 

I am a foodie, so going to different restaurants, locations, and trying/eating new food is the best. Pizza is by far my favorite. Go Modern Apizza!!!

I am from Montgomery, New Jersey, a small town right next to Princeton. It's a quiet town whose number one attraction was the local bagel shop, but was a wonderful place to grow up.

I attended the University of Maryland (go Terps!) where I studied biology and psychology. I then spent a year at NYU earning my Masters in Teaching.

Despite my science background, I have been tutoring math since I was in high school and I found myself in a math teaching role out of graduate school. I fell in love with teaching math so I will be continuing that path at Hopkins as a geometry and AP statistics teacher. I will also be a grade 9 advisor. 

When I entered college, I was sure I was going to be a doctor. I had this plan as long as I could remember and I was doing a pretty good job seeing it through. By the time my junior year came around, I was spending my days doing MCAT prep and going to my dreaded medical assistant job. I was miserable, but when I thought about it, the one job I have never hated, that I had been doing for over 5 years at that point, was tutoring. So I scheduled a Zoom call with my high school AP biology teacher who dropped out of medical school to pursue teaching. He told me that he always knew I was meant to be a teacher, and that was the confidence I needed to do a complete 180 and start applying to graduate teaching programs. 

My parents raised me in a household centered on food, so I am a huge foodie. I love trying new restaurants and exploring the food culture of wherever I am. I just moved to New Haven, and so far Sally's is my favorite, but I've been hearing that Modern will change my mind. I also am somewhat of a chef, and do have the delusional mindset that I could totally beat Bobby Flay. My favorite way to spend my time is playing games of any kind - board games, Switch, trivia, pool, mini golf - I'm always down for a fun activity. 

I am a huge TV nerd, and my range of favorite shows is interestingly expansive. My (all over the place) list of 10/10 shows is Avatar: The Last Airbender, Chuck, Degrassi: The Next Generation, New Girl, Sense8, The Good Place, and Umbrella Academy (minus season 4). These are shows that have a nostalgic place in my heart and/or in my opinion are perfect cinematic works of art. But really, I've seen so many TV shows and think pretty much all of them are amazing.

Casebolt grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in a small town called Pikeville in Eastern Kentucky. 

Austin Casebolt (b. 1994) is an internationally exhibited American multi-disciplinary artist. Casebolt received a Masters of Fine Art in Fine Arts from The New School / Parsons School of Design in 2022, and a Bachelors of Arts in Art & Education from Morehead State University in 2017. He is also an Alumni of the Kentucky Governors Scholars Program, Kentucky Governors School for the Arts, and the University of Pikeville’s Booth Scholars Program.

Teaching: Studio Art, Thompson Hall, 204

Advising: 9th Grade

Coaching: Assistant Coach, Varsity Girls Tennis

Casebolt was drawn to Hopkins by the school’s reputation for academic excellence paired with a genuine appreciation for the arts. He was especially excited by the expertise within the arts, as well as the resources, gallery space, and culture of creativity that make Hopkins such a unique place to teach and to learn. For him, it feels like a community where the arts are not only supported but truly celebrated.

In his free time, Casebolt loves exploring contemporary art galleries and museum exhibitions for fresh inspiration. Outdoors, he’s just as happy, whether that means trekking a hiking trail with friends or chasing a good rally on the tennis courts.

Folks may not know that prior to moving to Connecticut, Casebolt worked in film and television production in NYC and spent time on sets of artists such as Ariana Grande, Lil Uzi Vert, and A$AP Rocky, as well as fashion brands including Gucci, Victoria’s Secret, and Balenciaga.

I grew up in New Haven's Dwight neighborhood — where I learned early on that community, culture, and great food can all live on the same block.

I earned my B.A. in Psychology along with a Certificate in Education Studies from Yale University. I later completed my M.S. in Elementary Education at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. 

I am thrilled to introduce myself as the new Executive Director of Pathfinder and equally honored to join the Modern Language team as a Spanish teacher. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to start off in the teaching profession. I would spend hours pretending to be a teacher, creating lessons, and "teaching" my nieces and nephews. As I grew older, that early passion only deepend. I have been inspired by the teacher-champions in my life -- those who saw potential in me and nurtured it. Coming from a low-resourced background and being a first-generation college graduate, I have experienced firsthand how powerful education can be. It is more than just a profession for me -- it is a calling. I truly cannot see myself working outside of education, because I want to give back and be the kind of support and inspiration that so many were for me.

During my free time, I love getting out and exploring new places with my toddler son -- you can always catch us checking out museums, zoos, parks, or anything that sparks his curiosity. I also really enjoy catching up with friends over a good meal and spending quality time going out with my husband. Exploring new places and making memories with my family and friends is something I truly cherish.

A fun fact about me is that I have only met a handful of people who are adoptees like me. Being adopted is a huge part of my identity, so that rare connection is something that is deeply meaningful to me.

I grew up in Alicante, a mid-sized coastal city in the southeast of Spain, right on the Mediterranean. Much of my childhood was spent outdoors—in playgrounds, at the beach, in the mountains—but also in books and daydreams, trying to find quiet away from the constant noise at home. I am the youngest of five, and our house was always full of friends, neighbors, and visitors. It was loud, sunny, and fun!

I had originally wanted to study Classics at the University of Salamanca. But one day, overhearing my parents’ worries about finances—with a few of my older siblings already studying out of town and my mother not working outside the home—I secretly decided to change course. I told them I had changed my mind, and I enrolled at the University of Alicante instead. In my very first class, Pre-Columbian Cultures, the professor brought in a facsimile of the Florentine Codex—a manuscript written and drawn in the 16th century by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún together with Nahua authors and artists, written in both Nahuatl and Spanish. I instantly fell in love with the world of Spanish America. I ended up staying in my hometown and majored in Spanish American Literatures, with a minor in Classics. I later continued with Hispanic Studies, spending three years studying 16th-century Latin chronicles while also working at a digital library. I completed the equivalent of a Master’s degree before moving to the US in 2004 to study at Arizona State University. That path eventually led me to Yale University, where I pursued graduate studies from 2006 to 2012. Those years were a true bath of roses—rewarding and full of growth. I left with both deeper knowledge and a clearer sense of how much I still didn’t know. After Yale, I taught for a year at UMBC before moving to Spain. There, I earned another doctorate—this one outside academia, in what I like to call “real life”. I taught English at middle and high school, worked as a freelancer, and in 2018 I started my own business as a freelance language and culture teacher, later adding cross-cultural consulting. By 2020, I was combining that work with teaching English at CEU Universidad Cardenal Herrera. In 2023, I returned to the US in search of a professional path more aligned with who I am.

I’m very excited to be teaching Spanish 3 and Spanish 4: Language and Civilization. I especially enjoy advanced classes and hope to share my enthusiasm for the language and its cultures with students. Teaching, for me, is a true privilege—the exchange of knowledge is always a gift. 

I’ll also be serving as Assistant Coach of the cross-country team. I have to admit I was surprised by that choice—it’s my first time coaching sports—but I trust the judgment of those who saw potential in me. In many ways, I feel like a brand-new student myself: nervous, excited, hair neatly combed, a fresh fragrance of cologne in the air, new books. That sense of vulnerability will help me empathize with new students right from the start!

What drew you to Hopkins?
I didn’t plan this, and I didn’t expect it. But life—or God, or however you want to call it—has its own ways of surprising us when we let go of expectations and open our minds and hearts. Suddenly, you find yourself on a path you never anticipated but that feels entirely right. That’s exactly how it feels to be here. 

I have always felt more at home with ideas, numbers, stories, and dreams than with the outer factual world. Perhaps because of that and because of my family background I’ve often connected well with those who struggle to express themselves or who may come across as awkward. That sensitivity helps me now to connect with very different personalities, ways of communicating, conditions, abilities. I always try to look for the soul beneath the outer shell of whoever is in front of me.

To recharge, I spend time alone or with close family. Depending on my needs, I might run, read, write, meditate, or simply eat and sleep—but always with the intention of reconnecting with myself.

I grew up in Matera, a beautiful city in southern Italy known for its ancient stone dwellings, the Sassi di Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I received my bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Padua and later completed a master’s degree in Systemic and Relational Psychotherapy at the Institute of Systemic and Relational Psychotherapy in Modena. In Italy, I first worked as a psychologist and later taught Italian as a second language to young immigrants in Bologna, with the goal of eventually moving to the United States to teach Italian. I moved to the U.S. 18 years ago and have since taught Italian at Southern Connecticut State University and the University of New Haven. I am now excited to share not only the Italian language, but also the rich history, traditions, and contemporary life of Italy with my students at Hopkins.

I am delighted to be teaching Italian language and culture as well as serving as an advisor to a group of ninth graders.