Welcome back to Doodle Caboodle, the series where we sit down with the people who shape everyday life at Nysmith. This episode features Mr. Sharp, who has taught math, sixth grade social studies, and eighth grade social studies at Nysmith across more than 40 years in education. 
Still Loving Every Day of It
Mr. Sharp plays drums and has run both a strings club and a percussion club over the years. He's in his fortieth-plus year of teaching, and by his own account, it still doesn't feel like it.
"I like to share the joy. It feels like it's been two or three years, because it is about the kids. It really is."
Reframing a Tricky Year
Eighth grade has a reputation. Hormones, shifting friendships, figuring out who you are, it's often described as one of the hardest years in a kid's development. Mr. Sharp doesn't dispute that it's tough. He just sees his job as helping students get through it at their best.
"We all have those moments where we're learning what we can and can't do," he said. "Teachers really bring it home to help them be their best selves during a challenging time, figuring out who their friends are, who's really a friend." He calls it a privilege to be part of that process, even when it's difficult.
Discord and Courts: Mock Trials With Real Stakes
Beyond his clubs, Mr. Sharp runs something called Discord and Courts on Mondays, a mock trial program that pulls real-world conflicts into the classroom. Students take on a current case, this term involving a science fair demonstration that caused an injury, and work through it using real legal concepts: negligence, assumption of risk, and foreseeability of harm.
Students argue both sides of the case and work through the reasoning themselves. It's a clever way to teach argument and civic reasoning without students realizing that's exactly what's happening.
Bringing Multiple Perspectives Into Social Studies
Mr. Sharp sees his subject differently than most people expect.
"Social studies is the study of human interactions with one another. It's not the study of history. It just so happens that some of these interactions happened in the past."
Given Nysmith's international community, that framing matters. Students in his classroom often have family connected to current events happening around the world. Teaching those topics requires care. "We can say what we need to say," he said, "it just needs to be filtered through polite, kind, and respectful." He credits the school's founder, Carole Nysmith, with instilling that approach in him directly.
His Favorite Lesson
Ask Mr. Sharp what he loves most about teaching eighth grade, and he points to how much deeper the conversations can go compared to sixth grade. This year, his class simulated Shays' Rebellion to help students understand a concept many adults struggle to articulate clearly: the historical roots of how America's two major political parties differ on the size and strength of the federal government.
Students played through the scenario and wrote reflection essays afterward. "That's special," he said. "They leave here with that understanding."
What He Brings to the Classroom
Asked about his superpower, Mr. Sharp didn't hesitate for long: compassion, paired with accountability. He remembers what it felt like as a student to have someone both encourage him and hold him to a standard, and he tries to offer students both.
"Learning can be challenging, and it creates a natural vulnerability. I love the opportunity to tell a kid, you got this, even in the struggle, even when they can't see the end."
Those small wins add up over time. He's watched plenty of students discover unexpected interests along the way, kids who considered themselves "math and science kids" suddenly finding they love history too.
It's also, he admits, one of the best parts of staying in education this long: watching alumni come back years later. "A student will come back and say, we covered the French Revolution in high school, and it was a piece of cake," he said. "That's the best work ever."
Experience the Nysmith Difference
More stories from the Nysmith community are coming in future episodes of Doodle Caboodle. But nothing tells the story quite like seeing it in person. We invite you to schedule a tour and experience the Nysmith difference for yourself.
