Mr. Richardson Wins Millman Award

Mr. Richardson’s students lead history presentations. Photo Credit: Tarah Numat

By TARAH NUMAT   

Mr. Jason Richardson, a dean and global history teacher, was the teachers’ choice for the 2019 Sidney Millman Excellence in Teaching Award.

“I feel honored,” Mr. Richardson said. “It was one of the most joyous moments of my life. I felt so great that my colleagues nominated me.” 

His former students agreed with the pick.

“Mr. Richardson makes the lessons more comprehensible by turning them into conversations rather than lectures,” said Shania Watts ’21, who had his class last fall. 

Gisell Santos ’21 said, “He has a great heart and always tries to help students by giving the best advice.”

Mr. Richardson has been teaching global history for 27 years and has been a dean for 11 years. But he didn’t start out on this path.

 “Growing up, I wanted to be a horror film director,” he said. “I remember this one time I went to the movies with my dad to watch The Thing and Alien and loved the experience. But in college I grew to love global history and wanted to teach it to the upcoming generation.”

Before Midwood, Mr. Richardson was a student teacher at Sheepshead Bay High School. 

“When I applied to be a Midwood teacher, there weren’t any available spots, so Mr. Willner, a friend of mine, made some arrangements, and called me later saying I got the job,” said Mr. Richardson.  

His understanding nature has benefited Mr. Richardson, especially now that he is a dean. 

Mr. Richardson said that back when he started teaching, “the deans didn’t really have a good connection with the kids, so when I became one I thought I could make a change in the school.” 

This has been Mr. Richardson’s mission: to help make the dean’s office a comfortable place for students to interact with the deans. The job comes with a lot of responsibilities. 

“There are times when we worked with students whose lives are filled with trauma, and it gets very difficult trying to help them overcome the trauma,” he said. “We’ve had kids who were abused by their parents. For one, we got her a social worker and psychologist, but it took her about two years to get better.”

“Growing up, I always thought to be the best of whatever you want, take advantage of doing the best that you can do,” he said. He puts this philosophy into his teaching. “As a teacher, you’re always driving yourself crazy on how to engage your students when it comes to lessons,” he said.

The award shows that Mr. Richardson has left an impact on his colleagues as well as his students.

“He’s one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever met in my life,” said dean Brian Molter.

Lina Matute ‘21 said, “Mr. Richardson brings life to the dean’s office and could make your day 100% better in the blink of an eye by bringing positivity and encouragement.”