Welcome New Faculty!

The Features Staff

The Razor welcomes new faculty and staff to Hopkins. Here are some personal introductions and tidbits. Be sure to give them a warm welcome!

Leah Fry:
Where did you grow up?

Richmond, Virginia

What is your academic background?

I majored in English at William and Mary, then completed a PhD in English at UC-Santa Barbara. I also have a master's degree in education from St. John's University in Queens.

What are you teaching/coaching/advising/etc. this year?

I'm teaching English 9, Writing Semester, and Moral Questions in Literature.

What was your favorite experience as a student?

My favorite experience as a student was definitely participating in my high school production of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Not only did I learn a tremendous amount about the Rodney King case and LA Riots, but we went all the way to place third in the state one-act play competition!

Are you a sports fan? Sport? Team? Participant in?

I'm an avid Tour de France fan (the commentary by Phil Liggett and Bob Roll, the French landscapes, the fans dressed in costume...).

Do you have a pet? Tell us about it!

I have a cat named Agnes (nicknamed Agi). She's a ten-year-old tortoiseshell and weighs 6 pounds. We adopted her after she gave birth to three daughters. She loves to bite.

Tait Helgaas:

Where did you grow up? What is your academic background?

I'm originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but most recently I lived in New Jersey, where I did my undergraduate work at Princeton.

What are you teaching/coaching/advising/etc. this year?

I'll be teaching two sections of Algebra 2 Enriched this year.

Are you a sports fan? Sport? Team? Participant in?

I love watching, playing, and coaching baseball (the Minnesota Twins are my favorite team), in addition to skiing and running (I ran my first marathon this spring).

Tell us about a book, film, television program, performance, etc. that has impacted you and why?

My favorite book is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which, in addition to being one of the funniest books of all time, is the ultimate feel-good story.

Do you have a pet? Tell us about it!

While I'm so excited to join the Hopkins community, I'm sad to leave behind my family's two golden doodles, Toby and Franklin.

Carla Coste Sanchez:

Where did you grow up?

San Juan, Puerto Rico #Islandlife

What is your academic background?

Chemistry and Pharmaceutics

What are you teaching/coaching/advising/etc. this year?

I’m teaching one section of Chemistry and one section of Accelerated Chemistry.

Who or what has inspired you most in life, and why?

My abuelito! He stopped school after eighth grade to go work (which was relatively normal back then), but he learned car mechanics and electricity through a mail catalog "class". He would order the volumes via phone, they arrived by mail, and he studied on his own. I can only imagine what he would have achieved if he had the internet!

What particular tidbit (hobbies? life experiences? 15 minutes of fame?) we should know about you?

I love all types of crafting! Paper cutting, quilting, felting, anything at all! If there's a DIY Pinterest board on it, I've probably done it.

Tell us about a book, film, television program, performance, etc. that has impacted you and why?

“Steven Universe” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” They're SUCH amazing shows: entertaining, great character development, amazing world building, SONGS, happy moments, DEVASTATING MOMENTS, and full of great lessons that don't feel forced. 10/10 would recommend binging both!

Do you have a pet? Tell us about it!

We have a cat named Sr. Figaro....extra handsome, super royal (see pic), very spoiled.

Rebecca Marcus:

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in New Jersey, but please get to know me anyway.

What is your academic background?

I went to boarding school beginning in ninth grade (also in New Jersey), then attended Barnard College in NYC for my undergraduate years, then Columbia University for my master's Degree. I majored in English and minored in Western European History in college, and then got my MA in English Education.

What are you teaching/coaching/advising/etc. this year?

I'm a ninth grade advisor, coaching rowing in the spring, and helping to advise The Razor.

What particular tidbit (hobbies? life experiences? 15 minutes of fame?) we should know about you?

I don't know about fame, but I guess if you gave me one sentence to describe myself it would be something like: Cuban-Jewish east coast twenty-something who enjoys cooking/baking, exercise, reading, sarcasm, and amateur cornhole/spikeball/pop-a-shot/ping pong, etc.

Do you have a pet? Tell us about it!

I am really excited to be able to answer this question, because until I became an adoptive parent of my husband's guinea pigs, I never had a pet (except the carnival goldfish I won that unexpectedly lived for seven years - what a fighter). Ricky and Guster are both female guinea pigs, which my husband only realized after he named them. Sometimes we bring them outside and they sort of ungracefully waddle-run around the yard, which along with their floppy ears, is my favorite thing about them. There's also a rescue dog named Hope who lives downstairs from me, and she's pretty cool too.

What are you most excited about for this year at Hopkins?

When I interviewed at Hopkins, I was so impressed with the students I taught in my demo lesson. I am really looking forward to better appreciating the intellectual curiosity, individuality, and motivation that characterizes the Hopkins community and hopefully becoming a connected and contributing member of it myself.

Bob Studley:

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Stratford, CT.

What is your academic background?

I earned my BS in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut. A few years later I went back to UConn and earned my MA in Sport Management. I spent the first twelve years of my teaching career at my alma mater, St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, CT. For the past nine years I taught at Bunnell High School in Stratford, CT. First a Catholic school, then a public school, now an independent school- that's the trifecta!
What are you teaching/coaching/advising/etc. this year?

I will be teaching Algebra II (blocks F and H) and Introduction to Calculus (C and E). I will be helping with IMBL in the winter. In the spring I will be an assistant coach for Varsity Baseball. I am also excited to be an adviser for the Class of 2024.

What are you most excited about for this year at Hopkins?

I was actually an assistant coach for the Hopkins baseball team last spring. We had five or six workouts and then the pandemic hit and everything was abruptly cancelled. Man, what a bummer. But do not forget, we are STILL the defending FAA Champions! Maroon and grey all day!

I am a baseball coach in the CT Gators travel baseball program. I coach all levels from 9U to 18U. We have used the Hopkins baseball fields for practices, summer camps, and workouts in recent years. I've also had a bunch of Hopkins student-athletes on my summer teams over the past few seasons. Go Hop and Go Gators! I'm really looking forward to getting started on this new chapter of my life. Go Hop!

Are you a sports fan? Sport? Team? Participant in?

I am a big sports fan and can't wait to watch all the Hopkins teams and athletes in action soon. I'm a huge fan of the NY Yankees, UConn Huskies and NY Rangers. I love watching my own kids play volleyball, ice hockey, soccer and baseball. I also really like crossword puzzles, podcasts, trivia nights, and sitting around a fire pit with friends and family.

What was your favorite experience as a student?

Lastly, I absolutely loved my own high school experience. I have terrific memories of sports, classes and my Student Council speeches. I still hang out with my high school buddies. I even keep in touch with some of my teachers to this day. I sincerely hope all Hopkins students will someday look back on their time "on the hill" the way I look back on my years at St. Joe's.

Errol Saunders:

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Los Angeles, California.

What is your academic background?

I have a B.A. in Political Science from Yale College where I studied the relationships between cities and suburbs with regard to equity, economics, and the environment. I recently completed the requirements for my Ed.M. in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University, receiving distinction for my project entitled "Whither Place in School Choice Literature?" I am currently a doctoral student in the same department and working on my dissertation. My research examines how going to school outside one's neighborhood affects students' senses of belonging in their schools and in their neighborhoods.

What are you teaching/coaching/advising/etc. this year?

I am the Executive Director of the Pathfinder Program. This year, I am teaching AC1 and advising in 7th grade.

What particular tidbit (hobbies? life experiences? 15 minutes of fame?) we should know about you?

I have ridden Amtrak across the United States in perhaps the longest route possible without doubling back on oneself: Seattle, WA to Portland, OR to Los Angeles, CA to Albuquerque, NM to Chicago, IL to New Orleans, LA to Philadelphia, PA to New Haven, CT. I embarked on the adventure with the company of my backpack and a list of one non-negotiable thing to do in every city. I finished the adventure 33 days later having made many new friends, reconnected with some old ones, taken lots of pictures, and having collected hours upon hours of adventure stories to tell my nieces and nephews.

Tell us about a book, film, television program, performance, etc. that has impacted you and why?

I read Despite the Best of Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools by John Diamond and Amanda Lewis for one of my graduate school classes, "Social Inequality and Education." The book really hit home to me how intentions simply are NOT enough when it comes to equity; analyzing and then addressing the persistent, patterned ways that school structures serve to recreate, reinforce, and reify inequality is the only way to achieve real change.

Do you have a pet? Tell us about it!

I recently became a plant dad. Since my apartment in New Haven has so many tall windows and legit window sills, I decided to get houseplants and flowers for my living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Because of the pandemic, I have been able to spend a lot of time with my plants recently, but we have discussed that dad needs to go to work, that they'll still get their watering on Mondays and Thursdays, and that I promise never to forget to open the blinds for them before I leave for work.

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