Mr. Butler, of the Math Department and Academic Resource Center, didn’t get into teaching by accident; it was practically in his blood. With a mother who taught, a cousin at Horace Mann, and a family tree full of other teachers and lawyers, he chose the path that fit him best. “Teaching seemed the one that I would be most suited for,” he told me. More than that, he wanted a job with meaning. “You ask someone what they do, and they say, ‘I’m an account manager.’ I ask what that means, and they say, ‘I manage accounts.’ That, to me, is meaningless.”

Beyond teaching Geometry and working with students in the ARC, Mr. Butler is also the boys varsity swim coach. Coaching, he explained, came naturally from his own swimming experience, where older kids mentored younger ones. Having spent so much time swimming and coaching, teaching was the job that would allow him to continue to coach what he loves. “Swimming was so transformative to my life in a positive way that I could never step away from the pool forever.” In fact, he has been coaching longer than he has been teaching, starting with helping to coach his high school team after graduating. 

In the ARC, Mr. Butler helps students move past “I’m confused” to actual questions. “The statement ‘I’m confused’ is not a question,” he said. “But coming up with a good question is an incredibly challenging thing to do.” He even admitted to feeling lost while auditing a class at UCONN on the math department’s recent trip, an experience that helped him connect with how students feel. 

When I asked what inspired him to become a teacher, he hesitated. “I don’t know if ‘inspire’ is the right word.” But watching him talk about helping students, about the community of talent and work ethic at Kent, and about why teaching changes how you understand things, it’s hard not to see it anyway. Whether in the classroom, the ARC, or on the pool deck, Mr. Butler has found a job that makes sense and that makes all the difference.