KO warmly welcomes the intelligent and energetic Joshua Barthelmess to the Upper School as a new math teacher! Mr. Barthelmess is fresh out of school, graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Even though he almost became a software designer, he said he realized that teaching was truly the right career for him.Mr. Barthelmess said he was drawn specifically to KO because of the tight-knit community.
“Even after only being here for a few weeks, I’ve really gotten the sense that this is a very welcoming community, which contributes to making it a safe and positive learning environment,” he said. “I’m also a big supporter of the mission statement, especially of the ‘intellectual curiosity’ part that [Mr. Dillow] talked about during Convocation.”
As a teacher, Mr. Barthelmess said he hopes to pass on more than equations and formulas. “While I want to pass on a love for math and problem-solving, I think enlarging and expanding character is far more important and it is my number one goal this year,” he explained.
Besides math, Mr. Barthelmess is an avid gamer in his free time, playing popular titles such as “Super Smash Bros: Ultimate.” He also said he enjoys baseball and rooting for the Red Sox; thus, he will be the coach for JV baseball, in addition to JV boys’ basketball this year.
KO is happy to have you join our community, Mr. Barthelmess! We wish you the best of luck this year!
