Students traveling through lower E-wing may have bore witness to sounds of desks banging, chairs being tossed around, or a man yelling about some notable figure or event in history. They should not be alarmed, however, because that is just Mr. Field teaching one of his classes. For those students who will be taking any of his social studies classes, it is to your benefit to gain an understanding of who Mr. Field is, both within and beyond the classroom.

Each class he teaches tends to be a memorable experience. Mr. Field prefers incorporating various games and fun activities into his curriculum in order to help his students better understand the material they are learning, and how to apply that understanding to matters beyond their textbooks. These activities include making paper airplanes and launching them into far away trash cans, playing frisbee golf outside, going for walks around the school, or playing silent football. Some days classes may come close to bordering chaotic, but students do learn and gain a better understanding of the subject matter through these activities.

Of course Mr. Field does still have traditional learning days where he delivers lectures supplemented by powerpoints and short videos. These days usually provide important information for his cumulative unit tests and students are advised to pay attention and take good notes.

Mr. Field has taught social studies here at West, the first and only school he has taught at, for the last 21 years after beginning his career in 1994; the classes he has taught include: U.S. History, U.S. History 2AP, World Civilizations, AP U.S. Government and Politics, Legal Systems, African Studies, and Humanities. He most enjoys teaching U.S.  History 2 AP and AP Government and Politics.  But, he does not like teaching U.S. History 1 as much.

His most memorable classroom experience, he recounts, is catching a mouse in the middle of one of his classes last year. The best part, he jokes, was that he was wearing a tie with cats on it. A picture of him proudly holding the mouse quickly circulated on Twitter by lunch that day.

Even outside of the classroom, Mr. Field is just as witty, sarcastic, and easy-going. He personally is most inspired by “Sean [Doogan],” one of his students, because, he declares, “He’s awesome.”

But, if Mr. Field could be anyone else for a day he would be “Hannah Johnston,” another one of his students, because “I’d wanna be awesome.”

Mr. Field can rest assured, however, because many of his students would attest to how awesome he already is.

He majored in history at Clemson University in South Carolina and continued his graduate education at Rutgers University at New Brunswick for his Juris Doctorate.

When asked as to why he opted to become a teacher, as opposed to an attorney, he simply answered “I wanted to. You got a problem with that?” You can always count on Mr. Field to be direct and to the point.

While social studies is his forte, Mr. Field would not object to switching classes with another teacher for a day. More specifically, he would switch with “a gym teacher because I would be a really good gym teacher.” Additionally, he states that “I just love gym. I think it’s beautiful. Every other class you’re told to sit down. In gym class you’re told, ‘move.’” There is no doubt about that because his frisbee golf activity can leave you sweating and trying to catch your breath. He has a plethora of activities that get his students up and moving.

Mr. Field is also the director of Mock Trial here at West. When asked to describe what Mock Trial was in his own words he replied, “ A club for really nerdy kids.” But these “nerdy kids” are no joke; they “work on a case for hours” and compete against other schools all across the state.

Last year the West Mock Trial team was in the top 6 in the state. When asked how he felt about this accomplishment, Mr. Field declared, in true Mr. Field fashion, that “It was a hoot. I felt special, like a princess.” He was very proud of his Mock Trial team and expects an even better performance this year.

These are some of the things students can expect from Mr. Field and his classes. His AP classes are hard work, moving at the rapid pace of one chapter per cycle and cumulative unit tests encompassing multiple chapters, but they are highly beneficial and do prepare students to take the AP exams. His seemingly bizarre activities are orchestrated to help his students better understand what they are learning. Any one of his classes is a memorable and beneficial experience.

On a final note,  for those students who will be taking any of his classes, Mr. Field advises you to “Get Kleenex.”