|
|
|
|
| |
|
| Celebrating 117 years of educating leaders
|
Walter Spencer
Middle School Division Head
Teacher, Middle and Upper School History
Coates Hall 127
(210) 564-6214
w.spencer@tmi-sa.org
At TMI since 1998, Walter Spencer has seen the school’s student body increase by about 80 students – without losing any of its community feel. “TMI is great for that reason,” says Mr. Spencer, who has headed TMI’s middle school since 2007. “There is community, and it really comes down to the personal connection with people.”
Mr. Spencer previously served as Dean of the Middle School, where he has taught Texas History, U.S. History and U.S. Studies, as well as an Upper School history elective on the American Revolution. Before coming to TMI, he taught history, English, English as a Second Language and physical education at San Antonio Academy.
“I love teaching, being in the classroom, interacting with students,” Mr. Spencer says. “I like having the opportunity to have a little bit of influence on their lives.”
Mr. Spencer received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he also took a lot of history courses. More recently, he earned a Master of Arts in Education from UTSA’s College of Education and Human Development.
“I believe that schools bear the responsibility to educate scholars but also to provide good environments for students to learn early the habits of good, productive people,” he says. “From the time I first came here, teaching at TMI has appealed to me because we approach education from the perspective that schools are places of diligent and disciplined work. Learning happens here because there are caring and qualified teachers combined with motivated and curious students.”
Outside the classroom, Mr. Spencer has been Advisory Committee chair, Middle School Disciplinary Committee co-chair and sponsor of TMI’s Middle School Honor Council and National Junior Honor Society. He has also served as assistant athletic director, head coach of both men’s and women’s varsity basketball teams and varsity softball coach. He also built the dugouts on the softball field.
“At a school this size, everyone has to do a lot of different things,” says Mr. Spencer. In October 2008, he was faculty co-sponsor with Science Department Chair Rob Friedrich of TMI’s first Green Day, a campuswide environmental project involving students in all grades. It was a hands-on experience for all, including Mr. Spencer, who helped students to clear a forest trail for nature walks. “It was a day dedicated to connecting with kids,” he says. “The more we learn about our students outside the classroom, the better we can teach them inside the classroom.”
He is the father of two children, one who is a 2006 graduate of TMI and another who is a current student. Besides teaching, Mr. Spencer’s other passion is for woodworking. His office and classroom furniture includes items crafted in his home workshop, including a conference table made from an old wooden gym floor at San Antonio Academy.
“If – God forbid! – I couldn’t teach,” he says, “I’d be a carpenter.”
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|