The Immaculata-La Salle school community welcomed back Mr. Tim Gamwell this year, and that welcoming feeling hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“La Salle has always been a very friendly place and when I was a student here, I found that not just the students, but the teachers and faculty, everyone really is very welcoming,” Mr. Gamwell said. 

Gamwell grew up in South Florida and attended ILS. He graduated from Bowden College in Maine, where he studied English, Science, Environmental Studies, Sociology, and Psychology. 

He partook in a teachers’ residency program in Baltimore, which led him to getting a fast track to certification. For two years, he taught during the school day and got certified at night and through summer classes. 

One of his teachers from high school had an opening at La Salle and offered Gamwell the position. He taught at La Salle for four years before transitioning to another career path. He went on to work at a nonprofit called the Guatemalan Mayan Center in Lake Worth, FL. 

Gamwell has been a teacher for six years and besides English, he has taught Creative Writing and an African American literature course which he got to personally design.  

Besides being an English teacher to juniors and seniors, he is also National English Honor Society moderator and one of the SALTT Club moderators. His involvement with the Mayan children throughout his high school and college years is what inspired him to become a teacher. 

To him, the most rewarding thing about being a teacher is watching his students grow from young adults to adults.

“I love the moments that sort of ‘AHA’ moment that students get,” Gamwell explained. “I also love the relationship that students build with each other as a class and sort of that the camaraderie that comes out of having to struggle together. And I think some of the best moments are seeing students years later, who come back to La Salle or just seeing them in the news or different places. I think that’s really rewarding for me.”