Mr. Corrigan is a current AP Psychology and AP European History teacher at Benet, as well as a very important Redwing faculty member to know! He used to teach freshman world history and sophomore modern world history. He is from Naperville and went to Benet! Benet is the only place Mr. Corrigan has taught at, and he has been here for 20 years. He received his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service with a concentration in international history from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
While he was in high school at Benet, the thought of possibly going into something history related or teaching history first formed in his mind. He deeply enjoyed his Benet social studies teachers, most notably Mr. Nagis, Mr. Noel, and Mr. Doyle. This love for history followed him to college, where, greatly impacted by his great professors, he decided to go into teaching. Like the teachers he had learned so much from, Mr. Corrigan wanted to be a teacher that kids loved. Shortly after Mr. Corrigan graduated from Georgetown, a Benet history teacher retired to become an ambassador. Mr. Corrigan took over his job at Benet, leading him to where he is today!
Mr. Corrigan has several beliefs that he asserts and upholds when it comes to teaching, especially the fact that learning is fun and knowledge is an amazing thing to have. He wants students to be motivated not only because they feel pressure from parents or counselors to do well so they can go to top-level colleges, but also because their classes are enjoyable. He greatly tries to make his classroom an environment in which students want to be there and enjoy the material and community. In his words, “Education is a key factor in succeeding in life and growing unlocks countless doors and opportunities.”
Mr. Corrigan spends plenty of time outside of school with his family and three young children. He loves to play sports, especially basketball and baseball. For a time, he worked at the Georgetown basketball office, which was his favorite job before working at Benet. He is a huge Sox fan as well! Mr. Corrigan loves to read both fiction and nonfiction. Even though he isn’t able to travel as much as he used to, he still loves traveling when he can. Traveling gives him a feel of different cultures and places and an understanding of how they compare to home.
His favorite class to teach is AP European History, mainly because he loves the history that the class covers and he has the most experience with the class. He loves to add fun activities to his classes, such as puzzles, group activities, etc. He finds that these little “wrinkles” in classes lead to students having more interest in the subjects and performing better.
Mr. Corrigan has had several students over the years who, after taking his AP Psychology class, decided to major or minor in psychology. This aptly illustrates his ultimate goal: to make an impact on his students in any way possible. He knows that a lot of kids take psychology to find explanations for real world occurrences, and he wants to help answer those questions. Aiming to challenge kids through critical thinking, he wants kids to be intuitive and question their perspectives and beliefs.
When Mr. Corrigan was at Benet, it looked much different than what it looks like now. One notable difference is that now, kids focus on one sport and specialize in it earlier, rather than trying a variety of sports for fun. Countless classes have been added since Mr. Corrigan graduated. There are classes that appeal to everyone, and electives can help students narrow down their future majors and career paths. However, the universality of Benet has slowly died, for most students aren’t taking the same classes as each other, and many of the students are in completely different boats than those around them. The expanded Benet curriculum guide can cause students to feel alone, but can also help students shape their own unique paths earlier on in life.
Overall, Mr. Corrigan’s biggest piece of advice for high school students is to realize that high school is a journey of self discovery. Students are supposed to figure out what makes them better and what makes the world around them better and then lean into those findings to continue with a happy and content life. He spent some time doing alumni interviews at Georgetown, and the prospective students he was most impressed with were the students who knew what they really enjoyed and found ways to prioritize and get other people involved in their passions. Whether that be sports, academics, clubs, passion projects, theater, or arts, Mr. Corrigan encourages students to find out what makes them happy and include as many people as possible in their joyful activities.
