Boyd Jorden has been teaching at Sage Hill for 18 years. He has taught every grade level of
English since he started teaching in 2006 and currently teaches his favorite course, Accelerated English III.
When Boyd Jorden joined the Sage Hill community in 2006, he was part of“the second wave of teachers of the original group that had come in and started this school.” which has made his journey special since he started teaching at Sage due to the longevity. Jorden attended USC and majored in communications. He originally planned to pursue an advertising career, but he realized he didn’t like the restrictions on creativity. One day when he was walking around the campus at USC and thought, “I really miss reading.” He decided to take an English survey class called American Literature, where he began connecting his love for literature and the idea of teaching. This then began his double major in communications and English.
As former English Department Chair, he has seen positive change occur at Sage throughout the years. Jorden has taught several English electives and was also involved in several student-run programs here at Sage. He has worked with Publications, taught the Storytellers’ Workshop English elective class, a nonfiction composition class, a short story class, and he currently works on the student-run art and literature magazine called Struck.
Jorden had the unique experience of having his daughter, Lorelei, Class of 2023, be a student at Sage Hill.
“It was really weird, but I loved it” Jorden said.
Having his daughter attend Sage made him more aware of what he said and did in his classes, but more importantly, he gained a new level of respect and appreciation for his colleagues who taught her. Jorden said his favorite memory at Sage Hill was seeing Lorelei graduate.
“I got to go up and surprise her by giving her the diploma,’’ said Jorden, which is a special memory between the two of them.
His favorite book to teach changes each year. He always learns a lot from his students and the discussions that occur during class each year.
“A lot of it is about the chemistry of the class and how intellectually curious they are. [The students] are the ones that determine the level of discussion. I feel like I always get too much credit for what happens in the class; it’s really the students who elevate the discussions,” Jorden said.
This year, he has really enjoyed teaching The Scarlet Letter to his Accelerated English III classes and looks forward to the rest of the year teaching them.
Mr. Jorden would like to say to the Sage Hill student body that “the beautiful thing about Sage and why I have stayed here for 18 years is that I feel like it’s a place where you can determine your experience and you don’t have to do things the way they’ve always been done, you can create your own traditions and experiences here.”
