Adam Solomon was finishing his graduate degree in history at Boston University - after acquiring an undergraduate degree in history from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. - and had just applied for a job at a museum when the phone call came. On the other end of the line was a friend who was working as an assistant principal at St. Procopius, a Jesuit elementary school in Adam's hometown of Chicago, one of the thousands of Catholic schools struggling to stay afloat as archdioceses throughout the country slashed budgets and closed school doors forever.  "He asked me if I wanted a job teaching first or fourth grade, and I told him I would call him back," Adam says. "I just didn't know if I could do it."
He finally said yes, and he and his wife, Brenda Carter, threw their belongings into a U-Haul and drove back to Chicago. After two weeks of teacher training, Adam was in front of a fourth grade class. "First grade was too scary," he says. He learned two important lessons in his first real job: "I realized that I didn't know anything, and that I loved it." His two years at St. Procopius, a school whose philosophy he likens to Foote's, became the foundation for his teaching career. Known as a teacher who never takes himself too seriously, he has developed a reputation for creativity, resourcefulness, and kindliness. A runner, jazz fan, and father of Myles, 3, he also works in Foote's summer program, teaching baseball to children or planning field trips often centered on history. He fit right in at Foote when he moved back to New Haven once his wife was accepted to graduate school at Yale in the late 1990s. "I've been in the same room for 14 years now," he says. "I feel supported at Foote, I like the freedom we have here, and I like the kids and that they get along. After all these years, it's still fun." | 
Dress Code for May Day:
