Overview:
George Bennett, a teacher at The Village School in Royalston, is set to retire at the end of the school year after 23 years of teaching. Bennett, who has a unique background as a truck driver, journalist, and magazine publisher, is known for his love of history and his annual play where students write and perform their own play. He also organizes a biannual trip to England and Wales for his students to coincide with their studies of the Middle Ages. Bennett's last project is to publish a book on William Marshal, the 1st Earl of Pembroke, a little-known medieval hero.
ROYALSTON – As he brings his career at The Village School to a close, teacher George Bennett said at the top of his to-do list is publish a book on his little-known medieval hero – William Marshal, the 1st Earl of Pembroke.
Not surprisingly, Bennett’s fifth and sixth grade students are familiar with the knight, who is said to have played a key role in the development of the Magna Carta.
“He was known as ‘the greatest knight’ and he defeated 500 knights in combat during his lifetime,” said Bennett, 75, of Warwick, who taught at the school for 23 years and will step down at the end of the school year. “It’s a great story, but there’s no book about him for kids. It’s such a great story.”
Bennett took a somewhat circuitous route to his career as a teacher. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he was a well-traveled truck driver, hauling loads through his native Britain, along the roads of Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Jordan. His experiences on the road are detailed in his book “Into the Distance: The Lost World of Long Haul Trucking.” Bennett has also worked as a journalist and a magazine publisher.
“One of the most rewarding things we do here, in this class, is the annual play, where the children write the play and then perform it,” Bennett said. “It takes the kids way farther than they thought they could go. Some of them think they can never get up on stage, and some of them think they can never write, and it turns out they can do both.”
Every two years, Bennett organizes a trip to England and Wales for his students, arranged to coincide with their studies of the Middle Ages. While he may be retiring, he said he plans on coming back to the school next year to help is replacement, Josh Pincus, arrange the biannual trek. While the trip introduces students to many of the historical sites of England, Bennett hopes to inspire in them a love of travel.
“Both the play and the U.K. class trip are major events in the students’ lives, thanks to George,” said former Village School director Rise Richardson.
Richardson said she met Bennett in England in 1973, “when we both attended an academy for a year there. We stayed in touch over time.” Eventually, she heard he was no longer running a magazine, but had switched to teaching.
“At that point, I contacted him, letting him know there was a possible teaching opening at the Village School,” Richardson said. “He moved his life – lock stock and barrel and family – to the U.S. on the possibility of the job, because he shared the same values as the Village School and viewed the job as a unique opportunity. He immediately became an integral member of the Village School staff.”
While praising his leadership of the annual play and the overseas trips, Richardson added, “Of course, George is also a wonderful teacher, bringing learning alive and engaging for children. George always gave 150% to all Village School events. Its been a treat to know him over 50 years and to see him grow into the wonderful human being, friend and colleague that he is.”
“George has provided inspiration to students, parents, teachers alike in his many years at the Village School,” said Village School Director Jocelyn Langer in a statement. “His class trip to the UK has often been students’ first experience with international travel; the trip expands their view of the world, and makes learning about history and culture relevant and directly meaningful. Most educators work hard to build community and connection within the classroom; this happens organically in George’s class.”
Bennett said he loves teaching history to young people.
“History really is important,” he said. “The problem is most people don’t know enough of it.”
His classes have spanned historic eras, from ancient Greece to the American Revolution to the Old West.
“I tell my students the Constitution is the most amazing document ever written,” he said, adding with a wink and a nod to his homeland, “and, of course, it is based on the Magna Carta.”
To no one’s surprise, Bennett said, “The most challenging thing for teaching, and it almost sounds cliché now, is social media and phones. The star readers in my class would sometimes read 70 or 80 books in a year; now the star readers read about 40 to 50. All I want is for children to learn and to discover that there’s joy to be had between the covers of a book.”
Asked what he’ll miss most upon retiring, Bennett responded, not surprisingly, “The kids in the classroom. We all agree that once you’re in the classroom it’s all about the teaching – it’s fantastic.”