By Andy Granovski, NHS Member

Serving as the Freshman class adviser, Mr. Van Curen is a well-established English teacher in Fair Lawn High School. However, Mr. Van Curen is not just an English teacher. He expands his duties past educating his students about literature and the fundamentals of writing by cultivating an environment that teaches his students to value literature as a means of appreciating life.

This mindstate is illustrated by his answer to the question: what makes a ‘good day’ at school? In response, Mr. Van Curen answered, “The days where it's much easier to focus on the positives than the negatives.” He bases his attitude on his environment and the success of his students. To Mr. Van Curen, a “good day” has positive student engagement that allows for him to establish an upbeat tone and energy. This is one of his most valued aspects of teaching. If it’s “easy to see the positives, vibe, and attitude,” then it’s easy for him to steer the class discussion in a productive and engaging direction.

Mr. Van Curen not only teaches the students, but he also learns from them. By observing the new social trends that the students follow, he understands how society is changing. Interestingly, he believes that these changes don’t have to be for the better or for the worse. Instead, they are just a mark of how we are evolving while similarly repeating the past. By making sense of these changes, Mr. Van Curen can properly understand his students and connect with them better as a way to make sure his teachings are well-received. This level of care illustrates how Mr. Van Curen thinks of himself as a student that can learn from us the same way we learn from him.

In further regards to his teaching mindset, Mr. Van Curen explained the importance of literature when stating, “We don’t teach how to read books, we teach them how to understand the world.” He followed this up by giving an even more interesting answer to the question: If you could take the students on a field trip to anywhere in the world, where would you take them? His response was, “Somewhere local so they can see and understand how threaded literature is through our society.” By taking a zoomed-in look at our backyards, he believes that students could begin to better understand how literature is a documentation of our ever-changing social philosophy and ideas. Through the remnants of history that is literature, Mr. Van Curen wants his students to understand what brought us to this point.

This interview gave me insight into what the English subject means to Mr. Van Curen. To him, it is a way to connect with students, learn about our young generation, and teach the impact of literature’s progression to show its impact on our current way of thinking. What sets him apart from so many teachers is that he thinks about what real things the students can take away from his class. To Mr. Van Curen, teaching is not just a 9-5 job, it’s an opportunity to inspire the next generation.