The Dean of Faculty at any boarding school would find it a stroke of extraordinarily fine luck to have Karinne and Tom Heise's application arrive in the mail. In a world where it is becoming harder to find educators willing to assume the typical "triple threat" responsibilities of teacher, coach and faculty resident, along came Tom and Karinne, who are each eminently capable in all three areas. That was fourteen years ago, in 1988. They are an integral part of the Deerfield family now and still excited about working with young people in this particular setting.

"When you choose to be a member of the Deerfield faculty, you are choosing a kind of life," says Tom. "It's the contact with students that I enjoy the most," he adds, and then Karinne chimes in, "The students here inspire their teachers to keep on giving. They're at such an exciting age. They're developing world views and philosophies." This couple respectively heads the English Department (Karinne) and the History Department (Tom); they coach, squash and tennis (Karinne), soccer and basketball (Tom), and they live with their two children, and four junior and five senior girls in John Louis. Their biggest challenge? Finding balance, wanting to excel in all areas and reconciling themselves to the difficulty of doing it all well all of the time.

The students who know these two would argue that they actually do it all, well, all of the time. Karinne guides her students through The Great Gatsby, and the hopeful protagonist resonates with their sense of possibility. Tom's students navigate the tension between history and current events (particularly this year), while he helps them see that what's new or seems new may not be new at all. "Historical knowledge helps us understand current events," says Tom. "The tension between the two needn't be disabling."

This winter Karinne led the squash team to 11 wins, 1 loss, and a second place finish in the New England Championships, and in the fall Tom led boys soccer to a season record of 7-4-3 and their first invitation to the New England Tournament since 1995. Tom and Karinne carry their significant responsibilities with grace and humility and their formula for success is deceptively simple: a good Deerfield teacher has a strong academic background, knowledge of his or her field, and is devoted to kids and their development as thoughtful citizens.

As published in the June 2002 issue of Deerfield Today, a newsletter for alumni of Deerfield Academy