Mr. Jonas Akins
Mr. Jonas Akins is a new addition to the HPRSS department this school year. Prior to coming to Choate, he was a faculty member at the Kent School, where he was a United States History and Government teacher, a football and squash coach, and an adviser to the veteran support group. Mr. Akins got his MBA from Harvard Business School and served six years of active duty in the Navy. He recently moved to Westchester County, and his wife is currently teaching at Greenwich Academy.
Mr. Akins was mainly inspired to come to Choate due to Wallingford’s close proximity to nearby cities in Connecticut, such as New Haven and Hartford, as well as his knowledge of the school’s outstanding academic reputation. At Choate, he is teaching Honors US History, American Political Institutions, Contemporary Global Issues in the fall, and Modern Europe in the spring.
Mr. Akins said, “The reason I enjoy studying history and its combination with government is that only through the study of history will we be able to understand where we are now and where we might be going. Particularly for US history, I view it as an opportunity not just to inform students of what’s happened in the past but to give them the opportunities to think about how they can contribute to the future.”
He personally enjoys HPRSS courses where students do most of the talking. He said, “The best courses I’ve taken as a student have been the ones where the professor has talked the least.” He believes open discussion facilitates effective decision making; one of the primary goals of the study of history. One of the things that Mr. Akins hopes to gain from his overall experience at Choate is to see students thrive in many different contexts, whether it be in the classroom, on the playing field, or in the dorm, and he is dedicated to helping them thrive and develop effectively in each of those areas.
As a history teacher, Mr. Akins believes that though “the tangible benefits of history and its study are not immediate, if we’ve done our job correctly, then we will prepare our students for a lifetime of thoughtful consideration and hopefully service to others in hopes of making a better world.”
– Silas Walker ’19
Dr. Holly Hinderlie
Although this is Dr. Holly Hinderlie’s first year working at Choate, she has been working to inform students of wellness and healthy relationships for over a decade. Before coming to Choate, Dr. Hinderlie lived in Washington D.C. with her son and served as the Director of Counseling at the Maret School for 12 years. At Maret, she educated students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade about health, human sexuality, and social and emotional development.
At Choate, Dr. Hinderlie lives with Dr. Keith Hinderlie, Director of Equity and Inclusion, and their son; she serves as the Wellness Coordinator and a teacher of Sophomore Seminar. She decided to come to Choate after hearing wonderful things about the school from her husband Dr. Hinderlie, who was new to Choate last fall.
“Many students think that my role is to host meditation sessions, but it’s actually not as simple as they think,” Dr. Hinderlie said. As the Wellness Coordinator, Dr. Hinderlie is responsible for student complaints about sexual misconduct and works with the new Sexual Misconduct Committee to oversee policies regarding sexual abuse.
In her Sophomore Seminar classes, Dr. Hinderlie noted that her students and she have many discussions about stress. “I’ve asked my students what kind of threats they face to their wellness at Choate and about ways to ameliorate their stress.”
When asked what kind of impact she wants to make on the Choate community, she said, “I want students to feel comfortable talking about sexual harassment, and I want it to be in every student’s consciousness. I want to move the dial around the way people interact with each other.”
Though brief, Dr. Hinderlie’s time at Choate has allowed her to fully embrace her role as Wellness Coordinator and proactively interact with the community. It has also allowed her to notice the beauty and friendliness unique to Choate. “I’ve enjoyed just looking at the trees, fields, and ponds on campus. Another thing great about this school is that everyone here, regardless of whether I know them or not, is really friendly and nice.”
– Se Ri Lee ’19
Ms. Corina Fitzgerald
Ms. Corina Fitzgerald, a new admissions officer, came to work at Choate because of “Choate’s history, the students that come here, and the curriculum.” After spending her four years of high school at Hotchkiss, Ms. Fitzgerald knew that she wanted to go back to a boarding school type of community when she graduated college. Coming from a small town in Maine, boarding school was a brand new experience for her. However, once she was able to join a boarding school community, she knew that is was the right fit for her.
Before joining the Choate community, Ms. Fitzgerald was a member of the admissions team at her alma mater, Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. On the admissions team, her job was to interview applicants. She said, “Being in the admissions office is something I’ve always been interested in.” The aspect that she really loved about the group of admission officers was the collaboration and teamwork that went into all the applications of the students. Wishing to return to a boarding school community, Ms. Fitzgerald joined the Choate Admissions Team.
In her time here, Ms. Fitzgerald hopes to gain an understanding of a new school. She is eager to learn about the community as a whole and what kinds of activities and events are going on at Choate. She added, “Being able to be connected with the students is something I am really excited about.” As an admissions officer, Ms. Fitzgerald wants to contribute as much as possible in order to help construct the Choate community. She concluded, “One of the features of being an admissions officer that I love is being able to follow students from the beginning of their application process, all the way up until the end of graduation.”
– Peter DiNatale ’21
Photos courtesy of Choate Directory
