Mr. Boesch is one of NDA’s newest teachers as a member of the English department this September. Although he has not been here for long, especially in COVID-adapted NDA, he has quickly become a favorite among many students. As one student puts him and his class, “he’s a dedicated, understanding teacher that continuously makes an effort to not only connect to his students but ensure that they comprehend material and are using their full potential. AP Lang is a class with hard material but somehow he finds a way to breakdown tough subjects and allow students to form opinions and express their point of views through writing and discussion”. Let’s meet Mr. Boesch!

Mr. Boesch grew up in rural Colorado and mentioned that it’s his favorite place to be. He attended St. Anslem’s College in Manchester, New Hampshire, majoring in English and minoring in Peace & Justice as well as gender studies. After his freshman year there, he traveled to Honduras teaching English and met his wife who was also teaching. He quickly realized in Honduras that he “didn’t really know” what he was doing. This inspired him to learn more about English literature and language, and “to actually be effective and to give students something that they’ll actually take with them, versus something they’ll forget a minute later”. While in high school, Mr. Boesch tutored Rwandan teenagers, with whom he became close. Building a relationship with these kids and feeling good about being able to teach them new things is another reason why he decided to get into teaching. He continued on to attend grad school and studied English education. Before teaching at NDA, he taught at a co-ed school in Dorchester, a much different climate than where he works now. Teaching there exposed him to students coming from all different backgrounds with a variety of behavioral issues. Although his job was challenging, it was also very rewarding and helped him learn a lot as a new teacher.

At NDA he has found that his students are very different than his students in Dorchester. In response to our questions about differences in a single-sex school and a coed one he said, “it’s not much different”. When asked what his least favorite thing about NDA is, he said there is nothing he truly “dislikes”, but one thing is, “when (students) did really well on something and still didn’t think they were good enough. They should be proud of what they did. I wish they believed in themselves a bit more”. This response I think hit really close to home for us, and probably many other students, because this a regular occurrence at NDA.

We asked our fellow students for questions to ask Mr. Boesch, here are some of our favorites. Ellen Ryan ‘22 asked the age-old question of Timothee Chalamet vs. Harry Styles- who is better? Mr. Boesch said “Timothee 100%” which surprised us, but it was still a respectable answer. Olivia Gauthier ‘22 inquired on what it is like living in Massachusetts now after growing up in Colorado, to which he responded “It’s nice, we’re closer together, it doesn’t take as long to drive to the hospital or a nearby town.”since the Midwest is so spread out. Carolyn Kennedy ’22 asked which animal best represented his personality, and after careful consideration, he decided on two separate options. He told us that many people have compared him to a golden retriever before, but he would rather be a fox, since his favorite movie is Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Thank you to Mr. Boesch for letting us interview you and to those who submitted questions! According to Grace Delaar ‘22, thank you for being the junior class’ favorite teacher!