Two of the Tabor Academy faculty members will be taking the second semester off.
Mr. Howland and Mr. Arnfield are going their separate ways during the second semester, with Howland being awarded a sabbatical and Arnfield taking advantage of the Braitmayer Fellowship.
Howland completed the sabbatical eligibility requirement of being a teacher at Tabor Academy for 17 years.
“My wife helped me see the sense and value in taking a sabbatical, as well as Mr. Becker, who has also done a sabbatical in the past,” Howland said.
Howland also looks forward to “doing something different, something that I have been unable to do in the past. I also want to do some volunteer work or a part-time job during my time off.”
Arnfield will also take a break from teaching, but for another purpose. He has received the Braitmayer fellowship, which gives a faculty member the opportunity to complete a Masters degree or a research project.
Arnfield has gone with the latter, as he plans on building an old-style ceramics kiln.
Since arriving at Tabor Academy in the summer of 1999, Arnfield has been an important part to the visual arts program, as he has taught students ceramics, studio art and art history. He believes the time off will help him enhance his skills, especially as a ceramist.
“Being awarded the time and support to undertake a significant research/creative work project would represent a significant and ongoing learning and growth opportunity for me as a ceramic artist and as an art educator,” he says.
When Arnfield first arrived at Tabor, all of the kilns were electric, and Arnfield classified the results as “homogenous, uniform, and mundane as Levittown suburbia and American cheese.” After Shosuke Idemitsu, ’52, donated a gas-fired kiln in 2002, ceramics became more unpredictable and eventually more popular.
For his project, Arnfield plans on building his own gas-fired kiln. It will be located outside of his home in Rochester. Arnfield plans on taking his future ceramics students to the kiln twice a year, in late October and late April or early May.
“I envision this kiln project providing a significant catalyst for my students and me as we reach toward a greater understanding of the value of disciplined work and community through the transformative power of creativity and art,” Arnfield said.
While both teachers said that they will miss contact with their students, they are as excited as ever to go their own way until September, 2013. We wish them luck and success!
By Nicholas Veronesi
