The English department gained a new member this year, and Patrick Loftus has quickly become a fan favorite.
Loftus teaches 10th and 12th-grade English. He is currently a dorm parent in Ford and the coach of the Varsity Girls Tennis and Squash teams.
In the winter season, Loftus led the squash team to a second-place victory (never having played Squash before), taking home the Class E silver trophy for the first time in the program’s history. In comparison, last year did not have any match wins in the regular season.
“It was really just a bit of a surprise for us to win a trophy at NEPSACs,” Loftus commented.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, Loftus attended a Catholic high school. He furthered his education at Fordham University in New York, graduating with bachelor’s degrees in International Political Economics and Communications and Media Studies, later receiving his master’s in secondary education from Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania.
Four-year senior Rinka Okuno from Tokyo, Japan, feels heard in Loftus’ English class.
“What I like about Loftus is that I feel comfortable speaking in class,” she said. “I know he’s always listening to what I’m saying, and his feedback, whether that’s on an essay or graded discussion, is always nice.”
As 12th grade English tackles the Capstone project, an opportunity for seniors to research a topic of interest in a structured 12-page research paper, Loftus has been a supportive figure throughout the process.
Rinka has found Loftus to provide helpful “one-on-one feedback” for her Capstone project, not just in areas of English.
“He also taught AP Psychology before, I think, and I’m doing my project on psychology-related stuff, so he gives me feedback on both the English and Psychology aspects, which is really cool,” she said.
Loftus previously taught at Holy Redeemer High School for three years, the same high school he once attended as a teenager, where he taught both rhetoric and sophomore writing as well as AP Psychology.
As a kid, Loftus grew up with a very different vision for his future.
“I remember in fourth grade, we had to make a giant cardboard cutout of ourselves and make them look like what our dream job would look like,” he recalled. “And mine was that I made the top 24 of American Idol or something, which is just not a job, but that was my dream at the time.”
During college, his “original plan was to work in social media marketing,” so before getting into teaching, he worked at several companies, including VH1, Logo, iHeartRadio, Comedy Central, and Viacom. During his time at Fordham, he was the president of the A Cappella group, the Fordham B-sides.
“We competed in ICCAs twice, which is the Pitch Perfect A Cappella competition,” he said.
When Covid hit, Loftus moved back to Pennsylvania since he thought it was “a good opportunity for me to work from home while also getting my master’s in education and then making that career change.”
In order to receive his master’s, he completed observations at his old high school. However, when a teacher quit midway through the year, Loftus stepped in to fill the position.
“So, I kind of just lugged into that job, which is great. I started on my birthday, which was terrifying and horrible; a very memorable birthday,” he said.
After school, he coached Girls’ Tennis in the Fall and Boys’ Tennis in the Spring, where there were “no levels within the team and it was just 15 girls on one team of various playing abilities.”
When Loftus attended the school, he was number one on the Boys Varsity Tennis team beginning in his sophomore year. He was also voted homecoming king by his peers and was focused and dedicated to his studies. However, he was not the especially vocal type of student back in high school.
“I was fairly quiet in the classroom. I wouldn’t have participated a lot unless I was sure I was right, which is never the right mentality to have as a student,” he commented.
Two-year Sophomore Thea Hilbink from Florence, Mass., has loved having class with Loftus because he “leaves room for (lots) of questions” and allows her creativity to flow freely.
“I think every English teacher I’ve had has their own unique style of teaching, but I would say Loftus is generally very very patient,” she said. “He has expressed his knowledge of everyone’s distinct writing styles in his classes, which I think shows how passionate he is about teaching.”
Thea admires Loftus’ knowledge of both the academic curriculum as well as pop culture.
“It’s very easy to talk to him about interests or classwork. He’s also very sassy compared to other teachers I’ve had in the past, which makes our classes more fun,” she said.
After three years of teaching at his high school, Loftus decided to look for jobs in the New England area, somewhere that was “more open and more diverse.” He loves the Williston community and is grateful for the warm welcome.
“[Williston is] great. Everyone has been so incredibly welcoming, and warm, and kind. The students are much more driven than the students I taught at my last school. I feel like Williston imbues that energy in the students, which I think is really exciting,” he said. “You can also tell that many of the students love the community here, and the community that has been built, really by the students for the most part.”
Thea highlighted Loftus’ seamless transition to Williston and thinks he is a good fit for the community.
“One thing I also noticed is how quickly he adapted to life at Williston in just his first month of teaching here, I think that helped our classes succeed a lot,” she remarked. “Loftus is great! I’ve loved having him as an English teacher this year.”
