As the school year kicks off, we would love to give a warm welcome to all of the new faculty members who arrived on campus this fall! Each brings unique skills, passions, and experiences to share with and inspire our community. We hope this article will acquaint you with them, their hobbies and interests, and the things they love most about Taft so far. Get ready to meet the friendly faces you’ll be seeing around campus!
Megan Valenti
Mrs. Valenti grew up in Orange County, California, where she attended UCLA for her undergraduate degree and then went on to Columbia University for graduate school. She has taught at Taft, Indian Mountain School, and Westover, having spent 11 years at Taft from 2010–2021 in the History and GSS departments. Outside of the school day, Mrs. Valenti coaches intramural tennis with Mrs. Hincker. She told us that she especially values Taft’s strong sense of community, where students work hard and teachers care deeply about the work they do. A few fun facts: she grew up down the street from Disneyland, has three sons, and the most fun she’s had teaching was in an Honors Model UN class at Taft that combined international relations, geopolitics, public speaking, and debate.
Courtney Dignan
Mr. Dignan joins Taft from St. Mary’s of Lynn (MA), where he served as Chair of the Mathematics Department. This year, he is teaching economics and statistics, coaching Boys’ Thirds Soccer and JV Boys’ Golf, serving as a faculty advisor to the Taft Financial Society and the Taft Business Review, and living in Voge as a dorm parent. Unbelievably, he has had dinner with Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Jamie Dimon, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Nicklaus, and Vijay Singh (though not all at once); he went to high school with Charlie Day; he has officiated a wedding in Florence, Italy; and he once employed Karen Read. Guided by the idea that success means leaving a place better than he found it, he hopes to do just that at Taft, even if only in a small way.
Padraig Lawlor
Originally from Mountmellick, Ireland (and a proud dual citizen of Ireland and the U.S.!), Dr. Lawlor earned his bachelor’s degree from the National University of Ireland, an M.Phil. in History from Trinity College Dublin, and a Ph.D. in History from Purdue University. He has also taught at Purdue University, Saint Leo University, the University of South Florida, and the Canterbury School. In addition to teaching history, he coaches Girls’ JV Soccer and is a dorm parent in CPT 2. He is impressed by the warmth of the Taft community and especially enjoys lively debates and discussions in his classes. He and his wife share their home with three rescued cats: Keaton, Lionel, and Winnie.
Peter Wood
Mr. Wood comes from Wallingford, CT, and now lives on the coast of Madison, CT, with his wife Linda and their 12-year-old Springer Spaniel, Sebago. He is a UConn graduate (Go Huskies!), and he completed his master’s degree at Loyola University in Baltimore. Since graduating, he has been an educator for over 30 years, most recently at Jonathan Law High School, but also at independent schools like Westminster and Salisbury. At Taft, he teaches Spanish and will also be coaching squash and tennis. His favorite thing about Taft is the kindness that others have shown him thus far. He is a big UConn Husky basketball fan, supports Real Madrid (¡Hala Madrid!), and enjoys talking fútbol with students and colleagues. He often travels to Maine in the summer to see family and help out on his sister’s oyster farm in Casco Bay.
Ashley Cavuto
Ms. Cavuto received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and her master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Outside of her work in the Hulbert Taft Jr. Library, she is a dorm parent in Voge, and will also be coaching Girls JV Ice Hockey in the winter and Softball in the spring. She is a cat mom (to the lovely Winona) and spends all her spare time reading, crafting, doing crossword puzzles, and watching movies. Ms. Cavuto’s favorite thing about Taft is the community that has already been so welcoming, and the opportunity to wear many different hats at the school!
Ben Chapman
Mr. Chapman is originally from Stonington, Connecticut, and he attended UConn, where he received his bachelor’s in Coaching and Administration and played football. Following his graduation from UConn, he played and coached football overseas in Australia, living outside of Melbourne for about 6 months. He loves to travel and explore new places, and has even been to 21 different countries! At Taft, he is a math teacher, Offensive Line Coach, and Run Game Coordinator for the football team, and a coach for the JV Boys’ basketball team. His favorite thing so far about Taft has been the community, where everyone has been so kind and welcoming.
Esi Obeng
Ms. Obeng grew up in upstate New York, but went to high school at Ethel Walker, where she was a boarding student. She went on to receive her undergraduate degree from Amherst College before beginning a research position in Boston and ultimately coming to teach at Taft. Here, she teaches biology, is a dorm parent in Mac, and coaches JV field hockey and lacrosse. Her favorite thing about Taft is how incredibly supportive she has found the community to be: everyone is always looking out for one another, and she believes that’s what makes Taft such a great place to learn and grow!
Audrey Kimball
Ms. Kimball grew up in Washington, Connecticut and later moved to the Boston area to attend graduate school at Emerson College, where she earned a degree in Theater Education. She went on to work for about ten years at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and most recently served as shop supervisor for New England Scenic, a company that builds scenery for Boston-area theaters. At Taft, she teaches Stagecraft and will be teaching Tech and Design in the spring, while also working with the extracurricular theater tech group year-round (she encourages you to come see the production of Pippin!). She loves how welcoming and supportive the Taft community has been so far, and is grateful to be a part of it. A devoted fan of Shark Week, she often spends that time visiting her brother’s family in Virginia, watching shark documentaries with her sister-in-law and enjoying time with her beloved niece and nephew.
Jessica Pierpont
Dr. Pierpont is originally from Clinton, Connecticut, and spent some time in Vermont, completing her undergraduate degree there before teaching at Johnson State College (now part of Vermont State University). She earned her master’s degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson and completed her doctorate at McGill University in Montréal, where she also taught undergraduate classes. At Taft, she teaches music, offers vocal coaching for the upcoming production of Pippin, and hopes to start something for the campus equestrian community. She loves the energy, leadership, and kindness of Taft students, who make the school special and unparalleled. She is a passionate animal lover who visits her horse Babe in Vermont whenever she can, she runs the professional vocal ensemble Vermont Chamber Artists, and she can’t get enough of Welch’s fruit snacks and The Lord of the Rings.
Matteo Perper
Mr. Perper grew up in London in the United Kingdom, and he has family in both the U.S. and Italy. He graduated from Stanford with degrees in chemistry, Italian, and a master’s in an interdisciplinary program called Modern Thought & Literature. At Taft, he teaches chemistry and will coach the Varsity Girls’ Squash team in the Winter and the JV Boys’ Tennis team in the Spring. Although he is new to classroom teaching, he feels incredibly blessed to be starting off at Taft because he is surrounded by faculty members who care deeply about their students, who, in turn, are genuine, kind, and hard-working. A fun fact about him: he will coach two racket sports but he plays many more, including padel, and the historic games of ‘rackets’ and ‘real tennis,’ otherwise known as ‘court tennis.’
Dana Hill
Dr. Hill studied Psychology at Florida State University, International Development at American University in Washington, D.C., and received her PhD in Social Science at Syracuse University. She is originally from Florida, but has lived in Latin America for almost 20 years (mostly Ecuador, but also in the Dominican Republic and Argentina for brief periods). She thinks of herself as a global citizen, having taught online and study-abroad classes for Webster University (based in St. Louis) and for different universities in Ecuador. At Taft, she teaches human geography and is the Co-Director of the Global Studies and Service Diploma. Her favorite thing about the school so far is the welcoming community that has made her and her son’s transition from Ecuador so joyful! Some fun facts about her are that she loves to dance, be outdoors, and spend time at the beach, and that she has lived in both an indigenous community and a monastery.
Christopher Adamsons
Mr. Adamsons is a Taft alumnus who graduated from Connecticut College with a bachelor’s in neuroscience and a minor in psychology. He led the Rhinos to a Founders League Championship as the captain of the varsity hockey team in 2017. A student-athlete leader at Connecticut College, he served as the captain of the men’s varsity hockey team for his junior and senior years, as well as a member of the Student Athlete Committee. At Taft, Mr. Adamsons teaches Accelerated Biology and Honors Psychology as an adjunct faculty member and coaches two sports teams.
Semaj Campbell
Mr. Campbell is a member of the Taft class of 2014, and he also attended Trinity College, graduating with a BS in psychology. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, he worked at Avon Old Farms and pursued his MFA at Lesley University with a concentration in photography, where he received the Lesley University Art and Design Rising Artist Award. Returning to Taft, he teaches photography and coaches football. His goal as an educator is for students to find an outlet to express themselves through the visual arts, since art serves as an unparalleled language through which humanity can effectively communicate in moments where verbal expression proves inadequate.
Pierre Romangin
Born and raised in France, Mr. Romangin earned his bachelor’s degree in English studies from the Université Grenoble Alpes. He later moved to the United States to complete a Master of Arts in French, with a focus on literature and language pedagogy, at the University of Utah. While at Utah, he taught undergraduate French courses and discovered his passion for teaching the French language and Francophone cultures. During his three years in Salt Lake City, Mr. Romangin developed a deep love for the outdoors, spending his time camping, rafting, canyoneering, and climbing. A lifelong soccer player who competed at the collegiate level, he will coach soccer at Taft in addition to teaching in the World Language Department. He enjoys reading, traveling, learning Spanish, and participating in all kinds of sports.