Overview:
The veteran teacher reflects on his experience living and working with Simon Curry, highlighting Simon’s passion for teaching, deep care for students, and dedication to education despite financial challenges, ultimately revealing him as a compassionate and promising teacher shaped by strong mentoring and purpose.
During the 2023/2024 school year at Blue Ridge School (my last full-time teaching year), I lived in trailers. The “trailer” was completely inaccurate. It was a collection of trailers large enough to accommodate four people with three bathrooms, a kitchen, a common area and a large front porch. However, our individual rooms were smaller than the dorm rooms our students lived in. I was given my wing in that set of trailers. I knew I would be living with three people. I once taught one of them when he was a sophomore at Blue Ridge – Dhruv Mehotra from India. The other two were complete strangers to me – Cassius Christie and Simon Curry. I actually didn’t know anything about them except that they would be young (in their 20s) like Dhruv.
The day I returned from visiting my wife in Annapolis, MD, to live in my trailer, I first unloaded my little green Kia and a really small piece of furniture. On one of my walks to my car, I saw a guy who looked like he might be a new student at Blue Ridge. He was carrying my dress in his arms and putting it in the cart. “Hello, you must be Mr. Dunsmore. I’m Simon.” Talk about making a remarkable first impression. He soon learned to call me Dan, but his respect and kindness to me never wavered.
In January of his sophomore year at Blue Ridge, Simon was offered the opportunity to move into the Middle Boogher apartment in the dorms and become a hall parent. This was a much-desired move that gave him the privacy and space that a young boy deserved. This is where I met Simon on Wednesday evening, September 3, 2025, while visiting the Blue Ridge campus. I got him a six pack of Monument Brewery’s 12-ounce Trail Magic Hazy IPA since I knew he liked IPAs.
It was the night before classes started in Simon’s third year at Blue Ridge, his third year teaching anywhere. He was celebrating his 24th birthdayth birthday in june. I told him that BRS was lucky to have him and asked how long it might be before he moved on. His response, not surprisingly, was thoughtful and heartfelt. “I have friends my age in finance and business who already make $100,000 more than me, but most of them hate their jobs. I really love my job. I look forward to going to work every day, teaching and training kids. Sometimes I’m jealous of the money my friends make.”
Simon recognizes that teaching at a boarding school is different from any other type of teaching environment. 24-7 parts of the job require. She wants to eventually get a master’s degree in education, then teach in a public school. For now, he has no plans to leave Blue Ridge. My hope is that the School can hang on to him for as long as possible. I see in Simon a person who genuinely cares about others, who puts the needs of others before his own. These are the things that great teachers do.
After graduating from Haverford High School in Havertown, PA, in 2019, Simon received a BA in history and political science from the University of Richmond in 2023. His interest in history, and his desire to teach it to others, was inspired by teachers Ryan Caviglia and Charlie Withers and his mother, who still teaches special education at the high school. One of the best aspects of Simon’s personality is that he really values his mentors.
What made Simon fall in love with Ryan Caviglia’s AP World History class was his dry humor. He has never smiled for the whole month of Mandulu. He commanded respect and made her want to do something for him. You wanted to raise your hand and you are ready. As time went on, he started to reveal his personality and humor, and that made all the students love him even more. Simon will never forget that every day he wore a white or black dress shirt, black tie, black trousers and a coat or blazer. In the public school world, that was rarely seen. Simon knew he would need the skills of Mr. Caviglia who rules the class and his sense of humor.
Charlie Withers, who taught AP US History, had a very unique teaching style that was very enjoyable to experience as a student. This opened Simon’s eyes. Different teaching methods can work in the same way. Charlie was warm, enthusiastic, and very approachable from the start. There is no frown in the month of September. He had unique studies and activities. “I especially remember his walking lectures where he took his class as a tour guide as he taught.” Charlie’s need for coffee was great as he was simultaneously teaching full time and pursuing a degree. That didn’t stop her from always being available for extra help during lunch and after school. Once again, Simon learned from the example of Mr. Withers finds interesting ways to present his history lessons.
Ryan and Charlie nurtured Simon’s interest in history and got him thinking about teaching. And Simon’s mother, however, was and still is his biggest role. Simon is one of three sons. “My mother was tough and loving at the same time. She had to live. How did she pull that off? I think great teachers need that skill.” Simon considers his mother to be the best teacher in his school, but he is not only a dutiful son. All his colleagues speak well of him, too, whether they are managers, fellow teachers or supervisors. As an emotional support teacher, she understands her children perhaps more than their parents. He has the patience of a saint.” His mother is now nearing retirement age but feels she has a few years left. I met his mom and dad the other weekend when they were visiting Simon. I could see the qualities he described. One of the last comments Simon made about his mother’s work as a teacher was that it was not seen as glamorous, only admirable. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard or read a better description of what it’s like to be a teacher.
Simon doesn’t just teach in the classroom. He loves helping young men develop as athletes, too. He coaches football and baseball at Blue Ridge in addition to a teaching history. One of the faculty members he shadowed on the day he interviewed in 2023 was football coach Clint Alexander. Clint was teaching post-WW2 United States history. When Simon visited his class, Clint asked each student to introduce themselves, say where they were from, and write down one thing Simon should know about school. Clint then stayed after class to talk to Simon for a full thirty minutes.
“I’m not sure if Clint was officially interviewing me, but he gave me a lot of his time that day. I may not have easily accepted the position at Blue Ridge if it wasn’t for him. He has a larger-than-life personality, and his passion is huge. When he called me in June to tell me that I was going to coach wide receivers, I couldn’t help but realize that I didn’t have a choice!” Simon shared a class with Clint his first year and trained alongside him. In his second year at Blue Ridge, the football team would go undefeated and win the state championship. “Clint is the best coach I’ve ever seen and one of the most special people I’ve ever met. He showed me how to be a successful coach.”
Simon has an infectious positive attitude, another personality trait that will serve him well in his teaching career. “I try to be positive when I’m frustrated. I’m sure my peers in business face the same difficulties. It’s more important to me to enjoy the positive aspects of teaching, many of them, than to focus on what might be going wrong.” This is good advice for others planning to enter this profession.
Apart from the fact that Simon is one of the kindest people I know, he is wise beyond his years. He recognizes that AI and new technologies in general pose significant challenges and opportunities for educators. Advances in technology have been aspects of teaching since I entered the classroom in 1979 (and apparently before), but Simon recognizes that those advances are accelerating. “Teachers and students must find a healthy balance of how to use artificial intelligence in the classroom to improve learning. Ultimately, it is up to teachers to guide their students in the effective use of technological advances.” I am sure that Simon will one day soon find himself in a leadership position where he will be able to help other teachers to face these challenges.
During our time in the trailer, we four boys (Dhruv, Cassius, Simon and myself, one of whom was much older than the other three), had many opportunities to talk about life in general and the specific pros and cons of teaching. Simon accepted all of that. He is quick to add that he would visit his trailers in addition to those already mentioned if he were to take his Thanksgiving trip. He takes us as mentors. Any counseling that occurred was unintentional, however. Instead, it was three young men starting their careers with a lot of questions and insightful observations while I was an older man who had seen and tried things. As I got all I could out of my last year at Blue Ridge, and the other three got all they could out of their first year, we met with ease. The conversations that came out of our questions and our experiences made the best kind of guidance. I learned a lot from all three of them.
I wanted to commemorate our year together in the trailer so I commissioned my multi-talented English sophomore Apichot “Juice” Kamonprapasawat from Thailand to come up with an image that represents each of us in the trailer. Have that image printed on Juice’s green long-sleeve shirts with us. I suspect we will all be wearing those shirts with great pride and love in the future.
Simon’s point about low wages in education is very important. While it may be true that teachers don’t teach for money, I think we don’t have a choice either. Yes, that’s right, it’s a call. That’s another thing we say, and because it’s the best we can offer teachers. But aren’t some of the highest-paying professions out there? Don’t professional athletes play this game for the love of the game? Do actors and actresses act in movies because of their passion for acting? Do medical professionals not practice because they genuinely care about the health and well-being of others? I hope Simon continues to teach. If I can convince someone, anyone, some advocacy group, some political group, to see the wisdom in raising teachers’ salaries so that caring people like Simon can educate and care for young people without living a life of poverty, I will consider that a huge success.
