This piece originated from an out of the blue and endlessly fun project given to Tower during one of our classes by beloved faculty co-advisor Matt Ives.  This writer became really locked into the idea, and ever since the original calling for photos of faculty with mugs several months ago, it has blossomed into an article.  It may even become a series of articles, who knows!  Enjoy this – I know that I have.

A polyglot languages teacher with pedagogical experience in everything from French to Latin to Spanish, Richard Simon has lots of linguistic know-how and an espresso cup to boot.  While on a Family visit in California, Mr. Simon’s wife noticed a cafe while they strolled on Venice Beach.  She asked him to wait a moment as she went off to it – and came back some time later with this small espresso cup, which she got for him because, as an espresso lover, she figured he would love to have a special espresso mug.

If he remembers correctly, Neil Jaggernauth, who teaches various math courses, received this mug as a Christmas gift.  When he taught at a previous school, he shared homerooms with a science teacher, because the school put them at desks in homerooms rather than faculty offices.  She “showed [him] the ropes” at the school and proved to be a very excellent colleague.  To this day, it is still his “go-to coffee mug”.

Roberto Mercedes is a language teacher, specializing in teaching all levels of Spanish, from the linguistic basics to tying it all together culturally. His beloved Masters branded mug is a gift that was given out to all faculty several years back.

Skeffington Young is a history teacher, currently teaching various courses on world history and economics.  His mug is a ceramic work created by Chris Nappo ‘23 last spring.  Nappo, a student of the ceramic arts, created a raffle fundraiser for charities in Ukraine, and Young’s mug was one of the raffle prizes given out to the lucky winners, Young among them.

Curt Ebersole teaches a variety of performing arts courses, from orchestral music to public speaking.  Ebersole’s mug is a gift from the dark days of the pandemic.  While isolated, he found solace in the virtual company of a fellow Masters teacher at the time, Ellen Dieck (if you were here the 2021-2022 school year or earlier, you may know her).  Their weekly coffee chats over Zoom led to Dieck giving this mug to Ebersole to be put to use for such occasions.

Darren Wood, teacher of various gradewide English courses, a senior seminar on poetry, and a pedagogue of all things ethical leadership, as well as head of law enforcement if you’re a sophomore student, got this water bottle for the vibes.  He says it is reminiscent of the sort of bottle (design-wise) one takes on a camping trip or some such; which I think fits because he has the outdoorsy aesthetic in general.

Abdoulaye Ngom, a multi-talented language teacher with course experience spanning both French and Spanish, was given this water bottle as a gift from his wife.