John Neal

history teacher, student motivator, Vietnam vet

After a decade of teaching at McLean, John knows no two students are alike.

“Everyone is different,” he says. “You can’t expect students to learn in the same way.” One needs extra time on the test. Another absorbs information in smaller chunks. A third works best on a laptop.

McLean not only respects every learning style but celebrates different teaching styles too. For John, who teaches history and government, that means no-nonsense soapbox lessons, the most popular of which draw on his personal experience in Vietnam.

“I guess you’d call me old school,” he says. “I believe in an organized, structured classroom. My students know what’s expected of them.”

And his charges respond—with motivation and phenomenal AP scores. “First and foremost we’re a college-prep school,” John adds. “I don’t coddle. My students become their own advocates.” Now that’s history worth repeating.