- Life and Philosophy
In July of 1969, one Thomas Bly was born. He grew up in Upstate New York, where he went to Mohonasen High School. He graduated in 1987, where he soon went to do his undergraduate work at Springfield College. Toward the end of his college career, he worked as a bouncer for a nightclub before moving on to work at a DSS Residential Program for children ages 12-18, where he learned he was good at working with kids. In 1993-1994 he started coaching and working at Williston Northampton School and worked there for 8 years. Soon after he started at Quaboag Regional for two years before moving on to Ludlow High where he has been for 21 years.
He has a simple philosophy for teaching, yet it allows him to impact and connect with his students. He believes that you should always take yourself out of your comfort zone to succeed. He makes an impact by connecting reality with the history he teaches, which helps students understand the lessons and assists them with learning and understanding history. He developed the story-connected-learning style, which helped him give students a new learning experience. He also values direction following with the freedom for creativity in his student’s work.
Impact on the Student Body
As a teacher, Mr. Bly holds influence over his students. Simon Oski, a student of Mr. Bly, says “Mr. Bly has impacted me at school with his dedication and passion for his job…. His passion for history is admirable to me and makes me excited to learn in his classes.” Simon believes that “history is a complex subject” and Mr. Bly makes lessons “easy to understand and captivating.” Another student of Mr. Bly is Joe Dong, who says “He was very inspirational and helped me find an interest in learning history.” Mr. Bly has positively affected students in his class and the people he is in contact with. As a student of Mr. Bly, his teaching style has greatly improved my proficiency in learning history, and it makes me excited to go to class and learn something new. He makes sure to talk to his students about their interests before class. He has compelling conversations with each student and has the know-how to back it up with extra knowledge. His impact has spread throughout each student and he is a kind-spoken person who can connect with youth and share common interests, such as wrestling, which he coached for many years.
Special thanks to Emilia Alves
