Page 7 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 4 Summer 2013

KEN CASAZZA: RETIREMENT
There are many things people don’t know about Ken
Casazza.
“No one knows that I was in the Civil Air Patrol and was
trained to skydive in to fight fires or rescue people if their
plane crashed in the Maine woods,” he says. “A few people
know that [in 1968] I hiked the Appalachian Trail from
Georgia to Maine; that I was an EMT at Woodstock and
that I was taught to ski by [Olympic gold medalist] Stein
Erikson; that Rudy Giuliani was my fraternity brother [at
Manhattan College]; that I played doubles with Arthur
Ashe; that I nearly got thrown in jail with the Beach Boys;
that Don McLean and Susan Lucci and I and our dates
went out on the town in New York City. But, everyone here
knows that I am married to my best friend, Marcia, and
that’s been the greatest experience of my life.”
Casazza worked at five independent schools prior to
arriving at St. Paul’s 11 years ago, where he has taught
both math and science. After college, he returned to his
New York-based alma mater, Horace Mann, as a math
teacher and to work with a rigorous outdoor wilderness
and survival skills program called the Searchers. He
also taught at the Gunnery in Connecticut, where he and
Marcia were co-founders and co-directors of the Gun-
nery’s Searchers program.
“Searchers were awarded a pin at the end of the pro-
gram,” Casazza says. “Many Searchers have told us that the
program changed their lives, that it was the defining time in
their high school careers. One told me recently that when
her 12-year-old son went off on his first big camping trip
in Russia, she let him wear her pin so he would know that
he could do anything if he tried hard enough.”
Following Gunnery, Casazza moved on to Governor
Dummer Academy in Byfield, Mass., as the head of the
Mathematics Department. He then joined the faculty at
the Walden School in Louisville, Ky., where he served as
head of the upper school while teaching mathematics and
physics. Wanting to be closer to home and family, he and
Marcia moved to Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va.,
where he taught math and served as dean of faculty.
Casazza says it’s the sense of community, more than
anything else, that has drawn him to the independent
school life for so many years – “the feeling that there is
always a friend or resource nearby if I need help. Another
is the satisfaction in seeing students grow and mature, not
just in academics, but in all aspects of their lives.”
At St. Paul’s, Casazza is known for his warmth, pro-
fessionalism, and sense of camaraderie with students
and faculty. In 2005, he was a nominee for the Form of
1973 Mentor Fellowship, which recognizes leadership
qualities in SPS faculty and staff members. He has, for
many years, volunteered to mentor new faculty mem-
bers to help them acclimate to life at the School.
The Casazzas look forward to spending time with their
four daughters and eight grandchildren, on the lake in New
Hampshire in the summers and in Mexico in the winters.
“I’ve taught at six schools, and I feel that SPS has been
the best place for me to be at this time in my life,” he
says. “The high caliber of the students has made my job
easier; the quality of the faculty and administration has
made my job a pleasure. I love teaching, and it will be
hard for that to no longer be a major part of my life.”
Always a Friend
or Resource Nearby PETER FINGER
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