Riverside middle school English teacher Peter Sahlin leads a discussion about Lord of the Flies with 8th grade students in his unique and historic classroom.

Lyndonville, VT – After twenty years of teaching at Riverside, long-time middle school English teacher Peter Sahlin is moving on to a new chapter in his career. Peter came to Riverside as a substitute teacher and took over the full-time English position in the fall of 2003. That year marked a time of transition for Riverside, and Peter, along with a small group of new teachers helped shepherd Riverside into its current position by focusing on rebuilding Riverside in the image of the school’s long history of passionate teachers and students, academic rigor, and strong sense of community.

Former long-time head of school Laurie Boswell reflected, "I always admired and appreciated Peter's ability to connect with students in various contexts and in a genuine manner. Students valued his advice and respected his admonishments, trusting he cared deeply for their well-being. As eighth-grade advisor, Peter helped students adapt to their role as school leaders, navigate the social-emotional challenges of middle school, and transition to schools far larger than Riverside. The success of Riverside alumni in their ability to speak up, engage with others, and support their peers is in part connected to those indelible conversations around the Harkness table in the granary."

Peter's talents extend well beyond what he does in the classroom; he has overseen the school’s student council, sponsored the G.S.A, organized dances and festival days, and accompanied the middle school chorus on piano. Peter has also directed 16 of the school’s musical productions. Under his leadership, the faculty team at Riverside developed their annual Play Week tradition wherein teachers prioritize student ownership over the process of production, and facilitate the planning, problem-solving, and learning that happens in that effort, recognizing it as valuable as any traditional classroom learning.

As Riverside underwent significant growth in the last decade, Peter helped the school maintain its focus on the supportive community and patient leadership that has long defined the school by helping implement a system of “houses” that help students build strong relationships between grade levels. Much like the famous houses in the Harry Potter stories, each Riversider is assigned to Aqua, Terra, Ignis, or Caelum (Latin words for Water, Earth, Fire, and Air) when they join the school and feel a strong identity with that group throughout their years and even as alumni.

Among other things, Peter is known for his classroom, Riverside’s historic granary building. Once the shop where students built their solar cars, it was renovated to be a classroom by generous donors and volunteers in 2001. Knowing it would best facilitate student discussion of literature, Peter asked that the granary have a large central table, which was built and installed by Lyndon Furniture, and similar tables can now be found at Lyndon Institute and St. Johnsbury Academy. Around that table 6th graders have been known to make sense of Shakespeare, 7th graders discuss civil rights as they combine literature with their study of American history, and 8th graders engage with mature topics from works like Lord of the Flies and Catcher in the Rye before facing them in the real experience of high school. The walls of the granary recognize the work of numerous Riverside alumni, and Peter insists that behind an upper window is a magical attic of unicorns and swimming pools. 

Head of School Roy Starling adds, “As generations of Riverside alumni can attest, Peter’s classes are unbelievably engaging, and I don’t know if I have ever met a more passionate advocate for students. With Peter, everything starts and ends with what’s best for the kids, and thanks to him that ethos has pervaded the school for many years. I’ve said many times that I wish I’d had an English teacher of his caliber at any point in my education, and we’ve been lucky to have him here for the last twenty years.”

The school has formed a hiring committee to fill this position and will be posting the job soon. Peter will be Riverside’s commencement speaker at this year’s graduation ceremony.