Interviews with New Staff
Martha Van der Drift
What subject do you teach?
I teach French.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a lot of places: Illinois, Ohio, and French-speaking Switzerland (Geneva area).
What was your high school experience like?
My high school experience was probably one of the best in my life! I went to a girls, bohemian boarding school in Pennsylvania with an international group of students. We had close friendships with students and with faculty who lived on campus who would invite us to their cottages for snacks and discussions about literature, history, and political science. I was on Student Council and VP my senior year. I rode horses my first year and also played soccer for four years where I was co-captain my senior year with my best friend who now runs a theater in New Orleans. I loved literature, French, and philosophy courses and going for walks with my friends and our teachers and their dogs in the woods. It was a bit like the movie “Dead Poets Society.”
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
I love dogs and was involved in helping rescues before moving to the Upper Valley. I enjoy cooking, watching French and Francophone films, reading French and Francophone literature, spending time with my springer spaniel, Miles, snowshoeing, walks in the woods, visiting our children (pre-Covid), and traveling to France and Switzerland (my second home country).
What is your impression of HHS/the HHS community after working here for a few months now?
I was drawn to HHS because of its reputation for strong academics and democratic involvement of students and faculty. After being here a few months, I enjoy our exceptional teachers and students and hope to develop stronger ties in the months and years to come.
Noah Brennan
What subject do you teach?
I work in the Social Studies Department. I am currently assigned Citizenship and World History and Civics and Government. In the second semester, I have been assigned the second half of CWH as well as Geography and Geopolitics. Beyond the department, I lead Advisory 51, which is a group of seniors, and I am just beginning to work with the Professional Development and Curriculum Subcommittee of the Equity Committee.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on the campus of The Putney School in Putney, VT.
What was your high school experience like?
I wrote my college admissions essay about finding a newborn calf in the school’s cow barn while shoveling manure at 5:30 AM during a blizzard. She had been born overnight, sliding out of her mother and into the gutter where the heat of the excrement had kept her alive long enough for me to find her. I remember how slick she was to hold as I cradled her to my chest, waiting for the farm manager to arrive and tell me what to do. I named her Eliza, and then I went to calculus.
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
Outside of teaching and education, I enjoy skiing, especially backcountry skiing with my dog, and cooking for friends.
What is your impression of HHS/the HHS community after working here for a few months now?
I have learned a great deal from my advisory about the school’s culture that I cannot directly experience by dint of either my position as a teacher or because of this year’s necessary changes to usual school practices. While I have not been able to see firsthand much of what my advisory has shared with me, so far I am appreciative of how kind the students have been to me so far and how invested they are in the classrooms we share.
Jim Logan
What subject do you teach?
I have been an administrator for the past 21 years, prior to HHS I was the principal of Keene High School.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town on Long Island, in New York.
What was your high school experience like?
I was very involved in high school and had a great experience.
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
I enjoy anything outdoors, tinkering around the house, spending time with family, and camping (though I don’t do enough of it).
What is your impression of HHS/the HHS community after working here for a few months now?
I am very impressed with the HHS culture and look forward to the day when we don’t have to wear masks and can meet in-person and celebrate. There is such a culture of teaching and learning and I enjoy getting into the classroom to observe the wonderful things that take place every day.
Deb Beaupre*
What subject do you teach?
“Deb Beaupre is the new associate principal at Hanover High School in Hanover, NH.”
Where did you grow up?
She grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts, with hopes of becoming a lawyer.
What was your high school experience like?
Ms. Beaupre’s high school experience was much different than that of a student at HHS because she went to a large school in Somerville, Massachusetts which was predominantly Catholic, and had 1st and 2nd generation students. Ms. Beaupre also explains that she hated school growing up because of poor teachers throughout her school career.
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
Ms. Beaupre’s hobbies are “writing, reading, and going to the beach when it isn’t winter.”
What is your impression of HHS/the HHS community after working here for a few months now?
Ms. Beaupre admits that although she was hesitant to come to Hanover, as she says it may not be the most well-liked school in the Upper Valley, Ms. Beaupre has been “surprised by the number of kind, caring students.”
*Responses quoted/paraphrased from interviews of Ms. Beaupre by Ms. Pogue’s senior English class, and from Ms. Beaupre herself.