Current AP Statistics and Honors Pre-Calculus teacher Troy Thiele returned to the Upper School on October 1 following his six-week paternity leave.

Thiele, who is teaching five mathematics classes this year, has been absent for five weeks of the academic school year and one week of teacher training. Consequently, his interaction with the school environment has been kept at a minimum.

“Quite honestly, being a new father takes up an exorbitant amount of time, so I’m either playing with him[,] feeding him, and then changing him,” he said. “It’s really been a true break from [the school].”

During his time away from school, Thiele’s responsibilities have increased. In addition to working with his students now, Thiele must fulfill his duties towards his family, especially his newborn son.

“I am concerned about the [upcoming] workload, […] especially from the standpoint that I’m still trying to manage being a parent [as] that takes up a lot of time,” he said.

Furthermore, because he missed the initial weeks of the year, Thiele has not been able to become acquainted with several of his students.

“[The students] are at a little bit of advantage over me because they only need to learn one person’s name that’s new, […] whereas I have to learn anywhere between 15 to 18 students times five [new] names,” he said. “It’s something that’s a little bit overwhelming. I feel like I’m kind of jumping off a train that’s going pretty quickly, and I have to hit the ground running.”

Despite the multiple hurdles, however, Thiele revealed that he has successfully been able to manage coming back to school owing to the aid of the community and faculty.

“There’s definitely a lot of people [who] are very supportive at this school,” he said. “My colleagues in the math department did a really good job initially. [Also,] when the long-term [substitutes] were hired, they came into a difficult situation and did well. […] Its great [coming back to] work with the students and teachers here.”

Moreover, Thiele said that he is determined to put his students back on track and compensate for his missing time from school. He believes that the students will be an essential factor in this process.

“We will find out over the course of the next six or seven months what things haven’t been covered that I would have covered,” he said. “We’ll fill in any gaps and make sure that [the students] get the full course experience. [For] that part, I’m confident we’re in really good position. Harker students are students who I believe can demonstrate true resiliency.”

Thiele expressed excitement for the upcoming year and said he is glad to finally return to school.