One of the first things you hear as you walk into the third floor of the Katharine Brush Library is the bright laughter of Mr. Rick Taylor, History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies faculty. Known for his exceptionally animated history class, Mr. Taylor reimagines the subject as an introspective dig into the art of humanity rather than simply a look into the past. 

Mr. Taylor first joined Loomis Chaffee in 2012 when he finished his Master’s Degree at Oxford University studying classical archeology. Deviating from his original intention of pursuing a PhD in higher levels of academia, Mr. Taylor entered into the profession of pedagogy out of initial curiosity. 

“I was kind of interested in this idea of being able to combine some of my interests academically with also some of my background playing sports, particularly soccer,” explained Mr. Taylor. The soccer club he played for in high school used the Meadows as their training facility, with several teammates attending Loomis. “And so…Loomis [has] always kind of been in my backyard, so to speak,” shared Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Taylor, however, left Loomis after just a year of teaching. “My supervisor for my Master’s was still in touch with me. He’s like, I really think, Rick, you should apply for a DPhil (equivalent to PhD, term used by Oxford University) program. Ended up getting in and [I tried] to pursue the DPhil in classic archeology.” Mr. Taylor noted. 

A key factor that ultimately drew Mr. Taylor back to Loomis Chaffee was the cohort of young faculty members that entered the teaching field alongside him. He spoke fondly of them, noting how these driven individuals nurtured a sense of belonging. 

“We had a really strong contingent, which made it…lots of fun too,” Mr. Taylor said. “We’re young people who just graduated from college not too long ago…so it was nice for us to have a community of young people who are interested in hanging out together… and seem to be really interested in what they’re doing in the classroom, but also really great people to socialize with.” 

He taught a year at Walnut Hill School and subsequently moved to The Rivers School for three years before returning to the Island in 2020. During the three years Mr. Taylor spent with the middle schoolers, he dedicated his time to humanities. He credits his lively classroom model — one that encourages students to draw upon their abilities in thinking across the board, not just fact-based history — to his experience at the two schools. 

“I had a mentor and department head there who is really thoughtful about bringing in…writing and thinking techniques…into the classroom [to get] kids to think about mainly visual images and art,” explained Mr. Taylor. “I found that stuff that I learned during that year…[was] really formative for me. So thinking a bit more interdisciplinary about history is something I was able to do, and I’ve started to continue to think about [this at Loomis] since returning.”

As the assistant coach of the Loomis Boys Varsity Soccer team, Mr. Taylor’s teaching philosophy extends beyond the classroom and exhibits on the soccer field everyday. “When you are at a boarding school, you get to see kids from so many different perspectives…humans and students have multiple interests and personalities that emerge at different points throughout their various engagements in the school community,” he stated. 

Outside of his various roles on campus, Mr. Taylor enjoys the presence of music in his free time. “I love to listen to music. I love to mix music. I love to fiddle around with a little synthesizer and drum machine that I have, and I really enjoy finding new music, and challenging my taste, which has evolved considerably.”

Mr. Taylor hopes to become a teacher who breeds inquisitiveness in students, expanding their passion for learning beyond the walls of his history class. “[I think] about teachers as like an orchestrator of attention. [I want students to think] like now I’ve been introduced to [a new topic] and engaging with it in a sustained way, I now have something that I might think about at some other point, whether it’s a different classroom, whether it’s next year, or maybe even down the line. And so I think, to me, that’s really important.” said Mr Taylor