March 24, 2023
By Mary McPartlin, Staff Writer
ROCKLAND- Mr. Benjamin Constable joined Rockland High School as a physics teacher this 2022-2023 school year.
Before Rockland, Constable taught at several schools including Excel Academy in Boston, Match Middle School in Jamaica Plains, and was a teacher's assistant in New Orleans.
He originally “had absolutely no idea” what he was seeking as a career post college, although he did major in physics and gained a degree in music while in school.
Constable explained he “always sort of had a hand in some kind of teaching thing” like “camp counseling, babysitting, tutoring, and teaching oboe… it just kind of naturally seemed like a good thing to try.”
One of his favorite memories thus far is the Olaf cotton ball competition held by the Student Government Council, where he, Mr. Casagrande, and Mr. Lordi all had the chance of wearing an Olaf costume to school.
Constable said, “It was great at first seeing that I took the lead, coming to terms with that, and then having Lordi immediately sweep me in the last quarter. That was very fun to see.”
Something special about Rockland, according to him, is that it allows space for creativity.
“It’s very easy in schools to have people shut you down or say this is how we do it. Everybody at Rockland from principal level and down has been very like ‘cool, what do you have to work with? Let’s meet you with what you got,’” he said.
Dr. Harrison said hiring teachers, like Constable, is done through the department heads.
He explained that he “likes to collaborate and empower his department heads” and that his “role as the principal is to support their decisions in that hiring process.”
He said the department heads make attracting teachers to RHS easy, alongside Rockland’s positive environment.
Harrison believes that Constable’s first year is going well, and that he appreciates how Constable works to make connections with Rockland kids.
One of Constable’s junior physics students, Meghan Hailer, agrees that Constable is creating positive relationships with his students.
She likes that he is educated in both physics and music, which makes it possible for him to play music in class and uses the guitar string as a comparison to wavelengths.
She says the class is “full of surprises”, and that her favorite memory is when he gave stickers out to students.
Hailer adds, “he’s a trend setter” and “everyone’s going to get earrings after him and man buns.”