Kingswood Oxford welcomes new Upper School history teacher Madison Curtis, who has already made a bright impact on her students, advisees, and truly anyone who walks by her in the halls, with her upbeat disposition and relatable personality.
One may imagine that with Ms. Curtis’s world traveling past – having visited 25 countries and going to school at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland – that she is completely new to our community, but one could never be more wrong. Encouraged by her family’s past connections to KO, one of the family friends being varsity basketball Head Coach Brad Seaman, she came back to her Farmington roots and is now setting up shop in Upper Roberts, teaching Global Cities and Cultural Landscapes as well as United States History.
Make sure to be on the lookout when hiking or skiing because you may find yourself running into Ms. Curtis on a local trail or slope, as she considers herself to be quite outdoorsy, in which her self-proclaimed hidden talent of an excellent sense of direction certainly becomes useful. But don’t worry, homebodies, because Ms. Curtis also loves to relax at home with her cats, cozying up with a nice glass of tea and a good Agatha Christie novel or the next episode of “The Walking Dead” on those rainy days.
She also particularly enjoys art, specifically architecture, as she minored in Art History during her years at the University of St. Andrews and Harvard. “I love art,” Ms. Curtis said, “even though I actually can’t do it at all. But I love writing about art…I would probably work at a museum or be a museum curator.”
If she isn’t in her classroom, other spots on campus where you may find Ms. Curtis are on the soccer field, coaching JV girls soccer–a sport she has played for years, going as far as playing at St Andrews—or, technically off campus, with the varsity track and field team. While not an active participant or advisor, she noted that she is also intrigued by our Model U.N., Forensic Union, and the Power of Women programs, hopefully diving into each of them within the following weeks.
Now, more than ever, our world is polarized, and of course, a woman who teaches history in the United States is aware of that fact. So, when asked what she wished her students got from her classes, she kept it not-so-short, but still sweet. “If my history students can take away anything,” Ms. Curtis said, “it’s that the world is greater than them, and that it’s so important that we care beyond ourselves in this world, especially in this day and age…I hope that they see that in me. I hope that my students see that I care.”
