Faculty of the Week: Genny Moriarty
By ETHAN DING, AMY LIN, MAX MANTEL
In a warm classroom in the basement of Phillips Hall, students discuss carefully constructed questions about the previous night’s reading. As they return to the table, discussion starts and English Instructor Genny Moriarty thoughtfully observes. After class, students who want a second pair of eyes to look at their English essay, or want advice on how to approach a physics problem, take a sigh of relief when they receive her email: Learning Center Open Tonight! To those that know her well, she is a favorite teacher, a supportive advisor, and a savior in the Learning Center. For everyone else, she is one of the most amiable and encouraging teachers one can hope to find on Exeter’s campus.
When asked about teaching at Exeter, Moriarty reflected upon the familial significance the school holds to her. “It’s kind of a family affair because Mr. Moriarty and I both work here and our kids have grown up on campus. Two of them graduated from here and they’ve all spent some time as students here as well,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty initially moved to Exeter with her husband when he first got a job at the school. “It’s been 15 years that we’ve lived on campus, but when [Mr. Moriarty and I] moved here, he took a job in the English department,” Moriarty said. “At the time, our kids were small, and I was working part-time. I did some tutoring and some freelance writing that allowed me to be home with my kids when they were little. Then about 10 years ago, I started teaching part-time here and at my kids’ school. And then I went full-time [at Exeter] for several years; I was working in the Communications Office, but I really missed being in the classroom. So, about five years ago, I left the Communications Office to go back into teaching and I’ve done that since then. Sometimes it’s been part-time, but now I’m full-time, teaching and directing the Learning Centers.”
In the classroom, Moriarty is sure to focus on what students are able to walk away with. “I hope that they feel a couple of things. I hope they feel able to consider ideas from multiple perspectives. I hope they feel willing to hear what someone else has to say, even if they don’t agree with them. I hope they feel confident in expressing their ideas. I hope they feel that they can and have developed their own voices and kind of trust in them. Those are some of the things that I wish for all of our students and then more specifically in my classroom that we work on,” Moriarty said.
The effect of this teaching style is evident. “I think something really great about her is that she’s always willing to meet you where you are. If you’re in the very beginning of your process or later on, she’s always there to make you be the best you can be for where you are,” senior Parmis Mokhtari-Dizaji said. “She doesn’t really make you feel uncomfortable. For example, I struggled with narrative writing especially because I was talking about some very personal parts of my own life and she was very understanding and worked with me to figure out what I wanted to convey rather than what she thinks I should convey.”
Upper Nia Harris agreed with this, and elaborated on how Moriarty’s unique teaching style has allowed her writing to grow. “What it is with writing [is that] Ms. Moriarty gives us a lot of time to really work through it, and she’s so understanding when I have like half of my stuff done and she’s like, ‘No, it’s okay.’ You can work from here and this is good. It gives actual valuable information,” Harris said.
On top of just teaching in the classroom, Mrs. Moriarty has also taken the initiative to help with the Learning Center and has taken action to improve the space on a day-to-day level as well as an administrational one. “I think it’s been really rewarding and it has grown tremendously. I want to do more training with our Peer Tutors this year, and now that we’re over in the libraries, there are some systems to work out so that there are shorter waiting lines for STEM help. But I love seeing how many Peer Tutors [there are], kids who are excited to join, that want to help their classmates,” Moriarty said.
Student tutors at the Learning Center were quick to share how Moriarty has helped them. “She worked with the Head Tutors to transition it from a student-run club to a more institutional organization where faculty members and students are both tutoring and also having this coordinated effort where head tutors provided peer tutors with professional training,” Head Tutor Andrew Yuan said. “She has really brought on a lot of bold ideas in terms of how we can function better as a learning center and pays extremely detailed attention to how we as students and student leaders and head tutors are tutoring students in a responsible and respectful way that’s in line with our school’s mission.”
Fellow Head Tutor and senior Valentina Zhang agreed with Yuan. “Before [the Learning Center] started, she had a meeting and she got all of [the tutors] pizza and she just hosted this [meeting], and she facilitated a discussion for us about how we could make the Learning Center a better place. I took away from that discussion and conversation that she genuinely cares so much about the wellbeing of the students. She really wants to make sure that people who come to the Learning Center get the help that they need. And she’s just always thinking of better ways to support the student body at Exeter and her students in her English class.”
Throughout her various roles on campus, both students and faculty noted Moriarty’s commitment to creating safe spaces. “Within the classroom she nurtures a safe and welcoming environment where every student feels valued and encouraged to express themselves. And something that really stands out to me is her kindness, patience, and mentorship, and that really instills in [her students] the confidence to embrace their unique voices. I think the biggest constant, having her both in my lower and upper year, is her unwavering commitment to creating an inclusive space where everyone is comfortable to take chances. And by the end of the term, you truly feel you found a family around the Harkness table,” Mokhtari-Dizaji said.
Senior Minji Kim shared her experience as Moriarty’s current student. “I only had Ms. Moriarty for half a term of English but my experience in the English department has changed significantly. She is such a sweet teacher. She brings passion and positive energy to every class, asking our highs and lows of the week genuinely intrigued by our answers,” Kim said. “I remember always feeling comfortable going into her classes and coming away with a sense of fulfillment. I never was excited or interested in humanities classes, especially English. But having Ms. Moriarty as a teacher, the respectful and social environment that she created allowed me to feel passionate about the course and taught me to become more present around the Harkness table.”
Moriarty’s advisees shared the same sentiment: “I’m new, not just to Exeter but to the country as a whole, so I really don’t know what I’m doing super well.” upper Meira Wohl shared. “Ms. Moriarty has been really helpful if I ever had a question about anything, and I remember the first time I met her during ISO, she was like, ‘Oh, if you need anything, you can send me a message or email me. I think it helps when your advisor is somebody who’s very approachable because you feel comfortable going to them and asking questions, and I feel like she definitely is somebody who does her best to make people feel comfortable.”
Fellow colleagues also noted Moriarty’s positive example and presence in their departments. “Students connect to Ms. Moriarty because she has faith in their ability to write great papers and say brilliant things. This quality, always expressed with so much warmth, may be easily mistaken for ‘niceness,’ but it is so much more than that. She is a teacher who sets high expectations in the classroom and inspires her students to meet them,” English Instructor Barbara Desmond said.
Dean of Faculty Eimer Page expressed her appreciation for Moriarty: “I have eaten her pie, shared her stories, and enjoyed her company ever since we first met. If she gives another meditation, put it on your calendar. Read the ones she’s already given. Get to know her. Ask her for some pie.”
One quirk of Moriarty’s that students were quick to remark on was her love of tea. “If you do stop by Ms. Moriarty’s classroom, do try out her tea. She has a great collection of tea and her kettle is always open for student use; you can always feel free to get yourself a cup of tea when talking to her, [like] when we’re workshopping an essay draft,” Yuan said.
When asked about her love for tea, Moriarty did note a favorite recipe. “I love tea. I have a collection here that I like to share on occasion, like when we have writing days. What I drink every day is Earl Grey. I like it hot with honey and whole milk. And then I like it iced with vanilla syrup and whole milk.”
The main constant when speaking to students and faculty was the profound effect that Moriarty has had on campus. “I believe teachers like Ms. Moriarty are the reason why Exeter is Exeter — because of her kindness, thoughtfulness, and brilliance. I, and I’m sure countless other students, have found a sense of belonging at the Harkness table and beyond [because of her]. I believe that her presence is the embodiment of what makes Exeter a place where hearts and minds flourish. And anyone who has crossed paths with her is incredibly lucky,” Mokhtari-Dizaji said.
Yuan echoed these thoughts. “She’s done so much for the community that I feel like has been a little bit under the radar: she sends out learning center emails every single night, but it’s something that’s so instilled in our daily life that we should just appreciate Mrs. Moriarty a bit more.”
Moriarty had some advice to share for new members of the community throughout Exeter. “I would love for new teachers and new students to feel like it’s okay to not have all the answers — that they can reach out and ask for help,” Moriarty said. And that they try new things, try new activities, try to explore who they are in relation to other people, and that they kind of take advantage of all the resources and opportunities that we have here. I also hope that they’ll be kind to themselves; I would really hope that they would not expect so much of themselves that they don’t leave room for growth and for learning from failures as well.”
