Stuart Arey – Chemistry/Physics

While in high school, upper school science teacher Stuart Arey participated in a variety of activities including track, cross country, camping, and doing tech for community theater productions, all of which provided him with applicable life experience.

In track and cross country, Arey learned how to work individually and as a team member, because while events themselves may be individual, the points earned from each runner contribute to the team. “I think that led, for example, to being a science teacher,” he said, “There’s a lot of things that you do on your own to practice and go over things, but then you work with other people, and you collaborate, and you do lab analysis together and look at your data and compare.”

When asked what advice he would give to his high school self or to high school students today, Arey said: “I would always encourage people to try new things because you might discover that you had no idea you were interested in something… and if something really interests you, you should follow it. I’m a lifelong learner and I hope students at SPA will always be lifelong learners [and] discover new things.”