36 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2025 Tom Dughi taught at Ransom Everglades for 25 years, from 1996 until his retirement in 2021. This English teacher extraordinaire found his passion for literature in college and spent his years at RE sharing that passion with the many students he taught. RE: Tell us a little about yourself. TD: I grew up in Essex Fells, a small suburban town in northeast New Jersey and attended Columbia University, where I split my energies between academics and tennis. I also did a master’s degree at Columbia University before transferring to Johns Hopkins University, where I earned my PhD. In college I never really considered any major other than English literature, and through my first year of graduate school, I focused mainly on modern literature. I gradually segued into the Renaissance, however, with a specialization in John Milton and 17th century literature. RE: You taught at Ransom Everglades for 25 years and had many roles. What were they? TD: English teacher, Junior Class Dean, Sophomore Class Dean, Head of the Honor Council and Assistant Tennis Coach. RE: What did you teach at RE? TD: Freshman English, Junior English, AP English Literature, Literature of Adventure, Crime Fiction and Literature of War. RE: How did you know you wanted to become a teacher? TD: I kind of fell into being a teacher. I knew I loved literature and talking about literature in the classroom (and out), but when I started grad school, I simply knew I wanted to study literature; I wasn’t really thinking in terms of a career. I got my first taste of teaching at Hopkins when I taught some composition classes, which I enjoyed, and then I was offered the chance to teach an intro to English literature class, which I really enjoyed. During a six-year stint as an assistant professor at the University of Miami, it gradually became clear that I was much happier in the classroom sharing ideas with students than researching and writing academic papers. RE: How did you come to work at RE? TD: Kind of by accident. I had never really thought about teaching in high school. I was between jobs, taking care of my one-year-old son and teaching tennis part-time when the mother of someone I was coaching at Royal Palm Tennis Club suggested I look into teaching at Palmer Trinity; I was also coaching an RE student, Amy Radell ’00, and her mother suggested that I look into RE. I ended up meeting with English Department Chair Barbara Bloy (as well as with the department chairs at Palmer and Gulliver). Although we hit it off, nothing came of our meeting initially. But that summer Dr. Bloy fell ill and was not going to be able to teach that year. The school needed someone who could step in and teach AP English Literature, and I had been teaching an introductory English literature class at the University of Miami for six years, so they hired me to fill in for her for the year. I had a couple of weeks to prepare to teach two sections of AP and two sections of freshman English, and although I had plenty of experience teaching college classes, I hadn’t actually been in a high school classroom in nearly 20 years. But I made it through with lots of support from a great English faculty, and I had an amazingly rewarding year. The rest, as they say, is history. RE: What was your favorite thing about teaching at RE? TD: My favorite part — and I’m sure most teachers at RE would agree on this — was the day-to-day interactions with a group of hard-working, intellectually engaged students, both in the classroom and working one-on-one drafting, revising and polishing essays. I was repeatedly amazed by the thoughtfulness and sophistication of our students, and by the energy and enthusiasm they brought to the REconnecting with faculty emeritus Tom Dughi
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTY4MTI=