In June, Head of School Larry Van Meter announced the appointment of Dan Christy Randazzo to succeed Priscilla Taylor-Williams as the school’s next Chester Reagan Chair for Quaker/Religious Studies. The Chair honors and reaffirms the spiritual ideals of Chester Reagan, who was headmaster from 1925-1955. Reagan’s life was dedicated to learning, to teaching, and to spiritual search. The main focus of his efforts was to apply the principles of the faith and practice of the Society of Friends in his daily life.
“We are very excited to have Dan Christy Randazzo join the MFS faculty,” said Mr. Van Meter. “He is a deeply committed religious educator of the highest caliber. He will provide important leadership for the Religion Department and will be a galvanizing teacher of Quakerism and world religions.”
During this school year, Randazzo will be teaching 7th grade Quakerism, 8th grade World Religions, 9th grade Quakerism, and 11th grade World Religions. He will also serve as advisor for three Upper School clubs — Service Committee, Agenda Committee, and Worship Planning Committee.
Randazzo received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, his M.A. in Theology from St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, and his M. Phil from Trinity University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is completing his doctoral work at the University of Birmingham, England — his thesis is titled, “The Interdependent ‘Light’: Quaker Models of God in Reconciliation Theology.”
He has previously taught students in both traditional and nontraditional settings, including: a teacher of high school youth and adjunct professor to undergraduate students at Notre Dame of Maryland University, a counselor, as retreat/trip leader, and a Christian Educator at Christ Lutheran Church in Maryland.
“Through my work, I have purposely chosen settings (as varied as street outreach to the unhoused in a major metropolitan center and youth/college ministry in a setting of ethnic conflict and division) where I am able to bring both a creative approach to teaching complex concepts, and a focus on student development and counseling to bear on the education of youth,” said Randazzo.
Impressed with “the strong emphasis on incorporating Quaker beliefs, practices, and values into all elements of the school, including instruction and culture,” Randazzo is most looking forward to “participating, in the most complete way possible, in the active life of Moorestown Friends.”
In the classroom, Randazzo hopes to provide individualized focus for each student by thinking creatively and adapting to new and unusual settings and strategies in order to reach each student.
Over the summer, Randazzo, his wife, Meg, and their fourth grade daughter, Rebecca, relocated to South Jersey from Baltimore to begin a new chapter at MFS.