Daniel LaHatte 

2002-2006

Q: What was your experience like as a student at Dulaney?

A: I found ways to express who I was. I decided to play tennis and I didn’t know anybody on the team. I went more of the humanities route and got more into the social studies offering AP US and AP Euro with Mr. Wagner.

Q: What is your experience like as a teacher at Dulaney?

A: In a very positive way, high school went from being a pretty personal experience, where you’re focused on yourself as well as your teams and clubs and communities, to now a more broader sense of the students, their ambitions and kind of direction of where they’re going.

Q: How has Dulaney changed over the years?

A: One of the biggest changes is definitely technology and how it’s used, how it’s accepted, how it’s not accepted in certain ways, as societies change. So in many ways, Dulaney is reflecting the changes in our society and how we encounter and talk with one another as well as how we go about our daily business and how we kind of roll with that.

Why did you decide to come back to teach at Dulaney?

A: I had made the break from engineering and got heavily into communications. But I started to think you know something I also really enjoy is communicating but about history specifically. So I got my minor in history and minor in education.

What is your favorite thing about Dulaney?

A: Dulaney at its best to me is up there as one of the best schools in the country. The opportunity is still there for students to pursue and obtain excellence. And I hope that that continues for generations.

What do you think Dulaney can improve on?

A: I think we could kind of tighten up on some things to get more students on their own personal path to excellence. Because every path is different. And that’s okay. But are we giving the students the true life skills and life knowledge and experience of the expectations of the real world?

What is your favorite Dulaney tradition?

A: One of my favorites that unfortunately died out a couple of years ago was Sports Night, which was a great class, cross class competition night. Whether it was just wacky games and other things that we played.

Henry McVeigh

2006-2010

Q: What was your experience like as a student at Dulaney? 

A: McVeigh: Positive, rigorous, and fun. I felt like it was just like a big time of change and learning about myself. 

Q: What is your experience like as a teacher at Dulaney?

A: McVeigh: It’s also fun. Having known many of the teachers who are still here as a student, getting to see them from both sides of it, like as a student, and then as a colleague. It really made me respect them a lot. I understood what they were going for a lot more. And it made me appreciate all the hard work they did. 

Q: How has Dulaney changed over the years?

A: McVeigh: There was always a wide breadth of interest in academics and interest in sports and interest in the arts. I think some of our arts programs now are really impressive. I’m sure they were when I was a student, but maybe I didn’t take full appreciation of. So now as a teacher, I definitely recognize that more.

Q: Why did you decide to come back to teach at Dulaney?

A: I had a really good opportunity to come back here. I was in a in a prior career, I was teaching tennis full time. I met several of the administrators and the former department chair and a lot of people and when they had an opening, and I had already been in for a long-term sub position. It was just a really easy fit in and I had already had experience in the classroom. 

Q: What is your favorite thing about Dulaney?

A: McVeigh: My favorite thing now as a teacher is the people that I work with that, and that includes students and staff, when you have a group of kids who are like invested in trying, it is always impressive to me how much they can improve. I think people here both students and colleagues push me to do more, and to improve all the time. 

Q: What is your favorite Dulaney tradition?

A: I really enjoyed the day you painted the rocks when I was here. I like seeing how happy that is. When when we get a day or it’s a really nice fall day. I like how early it is because that’s that’s really what it feels like alright, schools back, and we’re really getting into this year.

Q: Cassandra Hatter

A: 2007-2011

Q: What was your experience like as a student at Dulaney? 

A: I will say it seemed like a good school when I was here. It was still diverse even when I was a student, though, I did really like the teachers. The teachers have always been consistently great here. It was. It was before we had, and Engrade and all the digital stuff, though. So I definitely see that kind of shift. But a lot of it was like paper, we had the overhead, the, like laminated screen sheets that we had to put on and stuff like that.

Q: What is your experience like as a teacher at Dulaney?

A: I definitely think the student body is more open and more, like actively diverse, I see a lot more engagement in clubs and a lot more diverse clubs popping up and being introduced. I definitely also think that there are a lot there’s a lot more student activity with freshmen. I will say the grounds look nicer now than when I was here.

Q: What were some differences between Dulaney when you were a student versus when you’re as a teacher?

A: Probably the culture. When you’re a student, I think it’s a lot easier to focus on, like just you versus the student body and looking at the school as a whole. And so, obviously, when I was a student, I was more focused on me and my friend group. Versus now I’m looking at the school as a whole. And I just feel like kids are a lot more active with their community.

Q: What would you say is the weirdest thing about being a teacher at the school used to go to

A: Working with coworkers that I used to call Mr. And Mrs. And now I call them by their first name.

Q: Why did you decide to come back to teach at Dulaney?

A: I had a really rough ninth-grade year. And when I was in college, thinking about what grade levels I would really want to teach. I did an internship with high school with ninth grade and I just realized that was what I wanted to do. It was kind of like my dream to teach high school freshmen and I thought when I was thinking about coming back to Dulaney, I thought, wow, like I could be a lot better than my ninth grade teacher.

Q: What is your favorite thing about Dulaney?

A: The students, the creativity. Just like how genuine a lot of students are about their learning, like passing by classrooms and hearing these great discussions, hearing students talk about things in the hall, hearing students talk about like, current events and like important material or important subject material and stuff like that, like that’s what I love. 

Q: What is your favorite Dulaney tradition?

A: The rocks and senior barbeque. The Griffin is a cool thing. That was the thing when I was here, so I definitely did like reading that when I was here. The greenhouse, that’s one of my favorite parts of Dulaney.