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Photo courtesy of Mr. Neale
Through the patio doors, past the metal detector, down the hall, and to the right stands a door. From the outside, it is just another door. You approach it, peering through its glass panes to the classroom scene taking place inside: engaged students laugh beside books on desks. Suddenly, a pair of keys fly across the room. As you enter the room, the realization dawns upon you: the door is not a door at all, but a portal to another world. Beyond it, student artwork, quotes, and a banner reading “WAHOOWA” adorn the dark blue walls. An El Greco print gleams above the door, transporting students back to Masterman after their class. At the front of the room stands the thrower of the keys, the hanger of the El Greco, the foundation of the classroom. In a plaid button-down shirt and black square glasses, he cracks a self-deprecating joke and the class laughs again. That’s Mr. Neale.
After twenty-five years of teaching, fifteen at Masterman, Mr. Neale will be reluctantly leaving his position at the end of the second marking period. “It’s never something I wanted to do,” he acknowledges, “it’s not like I was like, ‘woohoo, I don’t want to work anymore.’ But it was fairly logical to realize that
it’s too much for me to handle.” After having a stroke in early 2019, Mr. Neale’s goal was to “return as soon as possible,” he wrote in a departure letter to students and families. His stroke made teaching significantly more strenuous, leading to his decision to take medical leave: “This job was really hard when I had mobility – teaching is hard – and then when suddenly I was having trouble moving around the classroom and I couldn’t drive, it just [became harder]. The issue is not the time in the classroom, it’s the time outside of the classroom. I used to be able to stay up late or wake up early, and now I just don’t have the energy.”
A staple Masterman teacher, several current and former students remark on Mr. Neale’s humor and wit, which has been an essential part of their experiences in English class. “His humor was always evident in class. I liked when he made fun of his son, Luke Neale; that was pretty good,” Jacob Hoffberg (11-3) states, chuckling. Helena Saven (12-4) adds, “people were excited to go in every day, to be a part of his class and see which one of us would be targeted by him that day – which one of us would be attacked with thrown keys, kicked books – all in good fun, of course.” “I’ll always remember him flicking peoples’ foreheads or trying to mess us up during quizzes,” reports Hala Alhuraibi (11-4).
During his time at Masterman, Mr. Neale was not only a teacher but a friend to his coworkers, many of whom he took on trips to Arusha, Tanzania. “Tanzania is truly Mr. Neale's happy place so getting to travel there and share that experience with friends was incredible,” Ms. Waber reminisces. “We worked with teachers during the day and then got to explore Arusha in the evenings. One night, Mr. Neale and I played cards for like four hours. Friendship, teaching, travel, and Mr. Neale making fun of me – four things that I love in life combined for a whole month! I am forever grateful for Mr. Neale organizing that month for us.” Mr. Gilligan echoes that they “had a wonderful experience there, meeting all the people in Arusha and getting to know so many teachers.” Both Waber and Gilligan, however, highlight that some of their favorite moments with Mr. Neale were the small moments: “He and I would often sneak out during our lunch periods and go for walks and get coffee. We would chit-chat and bounce ideas off each other, vent to each other, talk about our families and everything together,” Mr. Gilligan reports. Similarly, Ms. Waber appreciated “just getting coffee and sitting together at staff meetings. Some of my favorite moments with Mr. Neale were also attending the Winter Concert and school plays; we always sat together.”
An educator, friend, and active part of the teaching body, Mr. Gilligan emphasizes Mr. Neale’s contributions to Masterman’s faculty, stating that “he’s like our moral compass. When the teachers get angry about something, we look to Mr. Neale because he’s got this internal sense of sarcastic goodness.” Ms. Waber describes him as “a generous colleague, willing to share materials and ideas” with fellow teachers.
Looking back at his Masterman career, Mr. Neale recalls some of his favorite moments. One of which was the Gym Show, a formerly annual event where high schoolers watched middle schoolers perform gymnastics in the gym: “It was terrible, I mean, there were kids who couldn't walk across a balance beam walking across a balance beam and falling. Everyone was so supportive because all the high school kids had done it.” Until then, he had “always thought of middle school as being separate from high school.” That was “the first time I really saw the supportive community,” he shares.
Mr. Neale is known for his engaging classroom environment and assignments. “I didn’t know that you could analyze books the way he does, and it just opens my eyes when I read,” Dev Shah (11-4) states. “During deep conversations about books, he would always [bring in] witty humor,” adds Kelvin Lei (11-4). “Mr. Neale is probably the best English teacher I’ve had.”
Luke Neale (11-4) rarely spends a day at Masterman without his father’s presence. “I’ve gone to school with him every day since fifth grade. Not having him in the building is going to be weird,” he confesses.
Helena summarizes - “I’d like to thank him because he’s been a really big part of my high school experience and someone who I’ve looked forward to seeing every day.I’m going to miss him.”
Needless to say, Mr. Neale’s absence will be felt greatly within Masterman. “I’ve got a lot of good friends here at Masterman, but he’s one that I especially like spending time with,” Mr. Gilligan states. To Gilligan, Neale’s leaving is “not a goodbye because I plan on seeing him and hanging out with him, but I’m really going to miss him.” Likewise, Ms. Waber is “heartbroken to lose his presence at school. As much as the two of us love to laugh together, we've been through many serious things together, too, and he is often my first phone call when I need guidance or support. I know Mr. Neale and I will be dear friends for life.” Waber plans to carry on Mr. Neale’s legacy through trying her best to “torment students during quiet moments in class. I will practice my paper ball tossing and find my own version of a cane attack. Students – beware.”
Mr. Neale’s recommended reads: “I recommend most anything by Christopher Moore. Of course anything by Toni Morrison, none of her stuff is anywhere near as hard to read as Beloved. I don’t recommend F. Scott Fitzgerald outside of Gatsby. I always recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude. It’s tough but it’s really, really good.”
Post-retirement, Mr. Neale looks forward to conquering his hefty stack of books and never touching Crime and Punishment again. Primarily, he plans to focus on recovery and physical therapy, which he has not been able to do since school started. “I’m hoping that stepping away from school will help me work on balance and coordination,” he wrote. His parting words for students is to “stay away from obvious signs of trouble; Luke Neale is an obvious sign of trouble. Stay away from my kids for your own safety.”
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