Dr. Callie Ward loves teaching. The story of how she came to Haverford stems from her reliance on teaching as an outlet to de-stress and be creative.
“I started at Haverford as a long-term sub. I was already in the Philadelphia area (I did my undergrad at UPenn and was TAing in a class there). I had finished the Ph.D. and I knew I wanted to get into high school teaching. Then, a job at Haverford opened up, and it was just kinda the perfect opportunity,” Dr. Ward said.
In her brief time here, Dr. Ward has impacted the academic careers of many students. She has opened minds and cultivated the literary skills of young writers. She teaches English II and English IV* as well as two Sixth Form English electives: Matters of Life and Death: Literature of Migration and The Language of Film.
Sixth Former Russell Yoh, a student in Dr. Ward’s English IV* recalls that the class “challenged students to see other perspectives.”
This was highlighted when the Sixth Form read Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me. The discordance of the text “caused me to become a better writer and interpreter of text,” Yoh said.
Sixth Former Chase Nelson enjoyed one of her seminars.
“I really enjoyed her Language of Film class. Dr. Ward helped me realize a bunch of my critical thinking skills were pretty unpolished. She also taught me attention to detail,” Nelson said.
Her in-depth classes challenge students to broaden their field of view, and she’ll miss these electives and the Sixth Formers as she departs for Germantown Friends School.
Despite her two-and-a-half short years at Haverford, Dr. Ward is well-integrated into the community.
What has stood out most to Dr. Ward is the opportunity that Haverford offers its students. She urges her students to take the ample opportunities, “ I see them as what makes Haverford such a special place… I think a lot about what you all are going to go off and do, especially with teaching so many seniors. I just hope everyone will really make the most of their college experiences and soak everything up and use the foundation they have earned here at Haverford to change the world.”
Dr. Ward comments on her film class, “I try to choose things that people wouldn’t necessarily have encountered before or seek out on their own, especially for seniors. I think it’s a nice opportunity to expose yourself to something before you go off to college and have to figure everything out on your own.”
Dr. Ward formed her Migration Literature class from personal experience and world experience.
“I think my biggest impact on the curriculum is through the electives I’ve created. There was a discussion about what’s already being offered and how we can not repeat what’s already being offered and how we can bring something new to the table. I thought that was fairly easy for me to do since no one in the English department teaches anything related to migration.”
Thus, the course “Matters of Life and Death: Literature of Migration” was born.
“I have so much real-world experience with that too, and have read pretty widely and very deeply when it comes to Latin American text,” Dr. Ward said. “It was easy for me to pivot and turn the idea into a more global approach by adding a graphic novel by a Vietnamese American author, for example.”
Dr. Ward is optimistic about the curriculum at GFS. “Even in a standard 9-10 curriculum, there’ll be room to slip in short stories that I’m interested in teaching. It won’t be a course I’ve constructed entirely myself, so I’ll miss teaching migration literature and film.”
When asked what she will miss most about Haverford she jokingly replies, “The power bowl for lunch.”
“I’ll miss spending time with my colleagues,” Dr. Ward said. “We make each other laugh every day, and I’ve been incredibly grateful to be part of such a smart, supportive, and caring group of teachers.”
“I’ll miss spending time with my colleagues. We make each other laugh every day, and I’ve been incredibly grateful to be part of such a smart, supportive, and caring group of teachers.”
Dr. Callie Ward
“And of course, I’ll miss the relationships I’ve developed with students here—not just in the classroom, but through GSA, Model UN, Creative Writing Club, and other groups I’ve led.”