During the 2020-21 school year, change has been a constant factor, whether that be block schedules, multiple days off school, or hybrid learning. But as the school year comes to a close, members of the freshman and senior classes are in for a good change, as their Human Geography and AP Comparative Government classes will be taken over by two excellent substitute teachers: Dave Linhares for Human Geo, and Rob Hill, For AP Comp Gov.

Having been expecting the birth of her third child and first daughter, Human Geo., AP U.S. History and AP Comp. Government teacher Sarah Becvar knew well in advance that she would need replacements once she went on maternity leave. 

As fate would have it, the two substitutes she needed would come via her department members, as Rob Hill has coached the JV swim team with Lindsey Ehret, and Dave Linhares worked as her in-person substitute while she taught virtually through the first semester and into the third quarter.

All in all, Becvar is very happy with her replacements and is hopeful that they will finish off her classes well.

“Mr. Linhares spent quite a bit of time with my freshmen first semester as he often proctored my classes while I was teaching virtually, so he was able to get a sense of how the class works and who the students are,” said Becvar in an email to the Prep News. “He has been in the building all year subbing and tutoring, plus he is excited about the fourth quarter content in Human Geography—urbanization and development—so I know my class will enjoy him being there.”

Hill, who received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his masters degree in American History from Pepperdine University, has recently come into the teaching profession, as he finds a similar passion that he found in coaching JV swim.

“The things that I will say about the teaching profession, because I am new and I am still learning … there is an art to it, there’s a connection to it, and there’s only so much time to get some of this content out to students and I have to make sure it's both understandable and retainable because there are tests and an AP exam coming,” said Hill. “I’m not an expert at teaching and I would love to get more professional development, and that’s why I’m here.”

While teaching may be new to Hill, the course content is not, as he lived in and studied the countries and cultures that he will be teaching in the last unit of AP Comparative Government.

“By chance, this course has six units over six different countries … two of which I’m here to teach which are Iran and Nigeria,” said Hill. “As for Iran, my father got his Ph.D there, I visited Iran in the 1970’s, I lived in Afghanistan for a couple of years, and I lived in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for eight years. So as far as Muslim religion and the dynamics in the Middle East go, I love it and I lived it, so I’m very excited to now teach it.”

While Hill has a deep understanding for the class and the materials being studied, he enjoys the passion and enthusiasm that he sees in the classroom.

“I will say, I’m very impressed with the seniors here and their intelligence, participation, and how they approach things, so it’s been very fun,” said Hill. “I have three different AP Comp. Gov. classes, and each class has four or five guys who really want to do extra studying on their own time, or maybe they want to be an attorney or a lawyer in their future, so politics is real, complex stuff for them and these students have really impressed me. It’s almost like a small college here, and these seniors—who could be taking the last quarter off—are all fully plugged in.”

His seniors are also continually impressed by him as well.

“His experiences living in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East provide him with a really interesting perspective given that we are studying a middle eastern country in Iran,” said senior Luke Altier. “He gives the extra information from personal experiences that the textbook can’t give you.”

Becvar is glad her seniors will have Hill while she is out on leave.

“Mr. Hill has an extensive background in U.S. History, he teaches college courses, and has lived and worked in places all over the world. He will bring a unique perspective to the AP COGO course. Plus, I learned really quickly that he is very detail-oriented and organized. I know my seniors are in great hands.”

Linhares, who has been working as a substitute teacher, academic tutor, and virtual assistant all year feels honored to be a part of the community of SLUH faculty.

“Being in this substitute position—to be in the room to give support to the teachers on Zoom and to have someone there to help out with contact tracing—and by tutoring in the Learning Center, and just being here at SLUH and taking all of this in while sitting in different teacher’s classrooms … I feel honored to be a SLUH teacher,” said Linhares.

Linhares credits a lot of his success and understanding of teaching this year to sitting in on Becvar’s classes and learning from the best.

“When Mrs. Becvar asked me to jump into the role, I was super thrilled and I felt much more prepared since I had been sitting in her classes … it gave me a feel for how she teaches the class and how to handle this hybrid way of learning,” said Linhares. “By just observing Mrs. Becvar in the classroom, I think she is just a natural teacher. She has good rapport with the kids and she is so insightful. She always brings something from the real world into the lesson, and she makes the class more dynamic and lets it go where the class is going, as opposed to being strict and following a script to the tea. I learned a lot from her.”

Linhares, who majored in sociology in college, is excited to be teaching Human Geography—a subject he knows and understands very well—and looks forward to sharing his passion for urban development and the industrial revolution during this last semester.

“I’ve always had a tendency to look at things from a larger, societal lens, and I was thrilled when I found out SLUH even had Human Geo because it's a subject I was always interested in,” said Linhares. Teaching the freshman class is no easy feat, but according to William Sheffield, one of Linhares’ students, Linhares is a natural and has been doing a great job so far.

“Mr. Linhares has been a great add on to the Human Geography team and he is perfect for it,” said Sheffield. “He is excellent with the students and I think he is very engaging. He’s given my class a new perspective on Human Geo. as a whole and he’s just a really great fit. He’s really impressed me with how he adapted quickly and he warmed up to the class quickly. I really like that about him.”

Both Hill and Linhares will be taking over for Becvar until the end of the year while she is on maternity leave. After the school year, Hill plans to continue teaching history at St. Louis Community College and to keep coaching JV swimming here at SLUH, while Linhares will move on to teach Spanish at Christ the King, a Jesuit College Preparatory school in Chicago.