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In his 40 years of teaching German at PA, John Chivers has seen it all. And he's seen it all change. The language lab, which in 1962 cost only $38,000 for everything from the drapes to the equipment, evolved into a high-tech, all-digital learning center. The school became coed. Weekend activities shifted from one movie on Saturday night to dances, carnivals and trips to the mall. And the infirmary, where Chivers had his elbow operated on in 1963, became Isham Health Center. What hasn't changed in all those years is the gratifi- cation he gets from his relationships with students in the classroom. "I've been lucky to work with kids who really want to learn something and to see the progress they make as people," he says. Chivers grew up in New Jersey and later attended the Lawrenceville School, where his father taught history and was the dean of students. A goalie, Chivers remembers playing hockey against PA when faculty member emeritus Joe Wennik ’52 was on the Andover team. At Wesleyan University, Chivers discovered a knack for German. Though he may have been ambivalent about the language at first—he studied German in high school because he didn't want to follow in his sisters' footsteps by taking French—he chose it as his major after spending a year in Munich, Germany. These days he lives and breathes the language, and he received a Kenan Grant in 1996 to compose German poetry. "People don't know he's American when he's in Germany," says faculty member emeritus Chris Cook. "He's got a real ear for languages." After college, Chivers returned to Lawrenceville to teach for one year and then spent three years at Brooks School in North Andover, where he became involved in numerous extracurricular duties, like house counseling, coaching and advising a literary magazine. In 1960, Chivers came to PA for the opportunity to teach more intensively in his field. During his tenure here, Chivers has served innume- rable functions. In 1962, he became head of PA's first language lab. He was chair of the German department off and on for 20 years between 1965-93 and head of the foreign languages division from 1972-77. In the ’70s, he taught an Andover Evening Study Program for adults in the community. He coached golf for more than a decade and started the women's hockey program when his younger daughter wanted to play. (Two of his five children—Elizabeth, John, Nicholas, Alexandra ’82 and Peter ’94—graduated from PA.) "He developed really strong teams, "says Cook. "A lot of those women went on to play very successfully in college " Despite his extracurricular involvement with the academy, teaching has always been Chivers' top priority. "John is the quintessential professional," says Lisa Svec ’81, chair of the German department. "He is demanding of his students, challenging them to excel- lence and always finding a way to make them laugh." Cook, a longtime friend of Chivers, says Chivers is just as demanding of himself. "John brings a consummate analytical approach to everything. If he doesn't know something, he does an amazing amount of research," Cook observes. For example, Chivers, who enjoys flying planes, got a perfect score on the flight test to obtain a pilot's license—a feat practically unheard of. He shared his love of flying with PA students in 1988-89, when he taught Aviation Ground School, an evening club activity that provided general information pilots must know in order to earn their initial pilots' license. Chivers also has an ear for music. He plays banjo, guitar and piano, and in the '60s and '70s he played banjo with several jazz and Dixieland bands all over New England. "I didn't let people know because back then teachers were supposed to devote 100 percent of their time to teaching," says Chivers. He and Cook used to practice banjo in the men's room of the Addison Gallery because it had the best acoustics. Today, Chivers is as much a part of Samuel Phillips Hall as classroom 15B, where he's taught for more than a decade. "He has set the standards by which I assess my students and myself," says Svec. "I have seen him attract the best and brightest to both ends of our curriculum—the accelerated first-year course and the fifth-year seminar." He has become so well liked, Svec says, that students who would have gone on to his class next year tried to convince him to stay. Come summer, Chivers and his wife, Mary, plan to relax at their home in New Hampshire and travel to Wyoming —Mary's home state. There will be more time for fishing, woodworking and playing the banjo. But Chivers' favorite activity will always be teaching. "My fondest memories revolve around people, and my greatest joy comes from the classroom," Chivers says. "What I teach isn't as important as teaching itself. I could have been happy teaching science." Copyright, Phillips Academy, 2000
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