In the Spring of 2020, every teacher in the world was stretched beyond measure and called to heroism.  For Mr. Mark Forrester, who just finished his 6^th year teaching Mathematics, Great Books, and Theology at Holy Family Academy, there were a few other factors in his life that made his heroism extraordinary.

On December 29^th, 2019, Mark and his wife, Clare, received a priceless Christmas present: their first child: Isla Perpetua Forrester.   

On Wednesday, March 11^th Holy Family Academy held her last day of in-school instruction due to the COVID-19 Virus.  On Thursday, March 12^th, Mr. Forrester began leading the faculty through two full days of in-house training in Google Classroom to get each teacher ready for the remote instruction launch on Monday, March 16^th.  Mark set up a mock Google Class based on “The Office” entitled Dwight’s Rights.  The class included quizzes with questions like “What is Dwight’s Schrute’s middle name?” and “What is Dwight Schrute’s position at Dunder Mifflin?”

Like most teachers, over the next few week Mark settled into a remote instruction routine. His lockdown came with a silver lining: he got to be home all day with his wife Clare and his new teaching assistant: sweet baby, Isla.  Isla, in fact, became an HFA media sensation in weekly memes from Dad and when she made live special guest appearances in classes and faculty meetings.

For Mark and his family, the remote instruction “honeymoon phase” came to an end on April 8^th, when Dad was called to 30 days of active duty by the New Hampshire National Guard where Lieutenant Forrester proudly serves as a Firing Platoon Leader. Mark was assigned to be the Officer in Charge (OIC) of a COVID-19 testing site in northern New Hampshire and would be away from his“ladies,” as he called them, until May 12^th.   

But then the May 12^th release date got extended to June 12^th, and June 12^th to July 12^th.   While Lieutenant Forrester was fulfilling his sworn duty to protect his country against this unexpected enemy, Mrs. Clare Forrester and baby Isla were locked down in a small apartment in Manchester.   Eventually, they traveled out of state to live with relatives until Dad could come home.

Throughout this whole time Mark continued to deliver daily remote instruction to his students.   (see photo).  He taught classes in his National Guard fatigues from inside a tent or out in a field—often with a whiteboard propped on one chair and a laptop propped on another (see picture).  When Mark could not be there for the regularly scheduled class during the day, he scheduled help sessions for students in the evening.  He continued the dual task administering COVID tests and Moral Theology tests util the end of the school year.

Throughout the whole trial, Mark kept up his joyful spirit and sense of humor. He continued to be the first teacher to volunteer when there was extra work to be done for Holy Family Academy.   No one could tell that the man with the sunny California smile was soldiering on with a broken heart.   

Finally, on July 10, Mark, Clare, and Isla were reunited (see pic).

All New Hampshire Catholic School teachers were during the last few months of the 2020-2021 Academic Year.  Mark Forrester—National Guard Lieutenant, Holy Family Academy teacher, and father of a beautiful family deserves a special tip of the hat.

Mr. Forrester’s students already love and respect him.  As they grow older they will increasingly appreciate and will not soon forget the way he answered the call during the Pandemic of 2020.  Mark, his wife Clare, and baby Isla sacrificed the comforts of family life and made a gift of themselves for the good of their school, state, and country.  If witness of Christian discipleship is the most powerful form of education, then Mark Forrester is a Master Teacher.