Andy Nelson

Greetings!

The 2011 - 2012 school year will mark my 4th year at Woods, and my second year teaching full-time in the Social Studies Department.  I deeply appreciate all that I have learned from my students and colleagues over the past few years, and am excited to continue growing in my understanding of varying learning styles and the learning process throughout our experiences.  One thing I have found is that learning at Woods is by no means limited to the classroom!

I believe strongly not only in the learning potential of each individual, but in our human capacity and thirst for knowledge and understanding.  School should be a place where we can pursue our natural curiosities concerning life, all of its complexities, and the many processes that contribute to the development of societies and the individuals that comprise them.

As a student at Earlham College I studied European and World History, International Studies, Religion, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, and Literature.  I found in the Social Sciences and Humanities many connections revealing the integral nature of knowledge and understanding.  I knew that the next stage of my life involved communicating and teaching these subjects and their core concepts to others, and I prepared myself through the rigors of Earlham's Master of Arts in Teaching program.  Upon completion of the program I learned of Woods, and as luck would have it Woods eventually learned about me.  I look forward to this year and many more in this wonderful community, and feel honored to be a part of such a caring and impressive faculty.