Roger Rock Returns to Nashua School

It's looking like 2016-17 is going to be the 'Year of the Rock' at Nashua School. Beginning this fall, local educator and author Roger Rock will be teaching English to upperclassmen. His plan is to begin what many expect will be a challenging curriculum with an emphasis on study habits before moving on to grammar. "The key word," Rock explains with a glint in his eye, "is habits."

Turns out, the number of former students who credit Rock with being an important teacher in their lives is staggering. Following the announcement of Rock's return to teaching at the Aug. 11 Nashua school board meeting, your faithful reporter has yet to meet anyone under the age of 50 who knows the man's name and doesn't claim him as a mentor.

The current makeup of the board itself is typical of the Porcupine connection to our goodly English instructor: All but one of them are former students. The real surprise is the fact that the school was able to tempt the Fort Peck resident out of semi-retirement at all.

"I've got another year of eligibility," Rock told me over coffees at Stillwater Brew in Fort Peck this past week, as if that alone explains the man's willingness to hoist the gauntlet of language studies in a rural district once again. The blinking response Rock returned when pressed on the subject left me feeling slightly sheepish for having to ask about his motivations in the first place. "They need the help this year," Rock pointed out, adding, "Laura Wagner is going to come back as well."

At one point over the summer, the school was facing a staffing shortage of as many as 11 teachers and other faculty. The appointment of Rock to the English department and other key hires signals a commitment to students and student/teacher ratios generally at the school.

As mentioned above, Nashua resident Laura Wagner is also coming out of retirement to assist the school's deficit in teaching staff. With any luck, we'll be speaking with her as well. Stay tuned.