Comedic and smart describe Mr. Williams who has been teaching 11 years at New Hartford. He teaches English 10, English 10 honors, and an elective that only he teaches called Speech and Debate.
“Mr. Williams is a passionate dynamic English teacher,” says Mrs. Clive who teaches English across the hall from him.
His teaching style is definitely unique. When he is teaching Julius Caesar, his voice proclaiming that it’s the “Ides Of March” echoes throughout the hallway from his room. Then while teaching Lord of the Flies, he instructs students to raise their right hand and promise that if they happen to work in a fast food place they will call the person who works the fryer “Lord of the Fries.”
Students, such as sophomore Eoin Clive, appreciate his engaging sense of humor.
“ He’s a good teacher and I enjoy being in his class because he is funny and also very smart and knows a lot of random facts,” Eoin said. “His teaching style is very good because it helps me stay focused because once in a while he’ll get sidetracked about some random thing and it’s pretty funny. He also says funny things out loud when we are reading.”
Mrs. Clive says Mr. Williams’s speech and debate class is popular with students because “it gives students a lot of real life context for developing skills and it helps with talking to people in life. The class helps students become more confident in speaking.”
Outside of school, he likes to spend time with his wife and two children and he also enjoys gardening, hiking, cooking, and playing guitar. He has a hard time selecting a favorite movie but Memento is up there and he likes Happy Gilmore as a silly distraction. He is also a fan of or even the ‘mockumentary’ This is Spinal Tap.
