Ryan grew up in Lynchburg, VA and attended Davidson College from 2004-2008 where he earned his BA in English. He started as quarterback for Davidson’s football team for four seasons. He graduated as the school’s all-time leader in passing attempts, completions, yards, and touchdowns.

He also met his wife at Davidson, who played on Davidson’s women’s basketball team. After graduation, Ryan played for one season in the GFL (German Football League) in a city just outside Frankfurt, Germany. Mandy and Ryan now live in Virginia with their son Luke.

Work Experience. Before venturing into education, Ryan worked in Washington DC for a political, policy, and campaign consulting non-profit. He managed a four month environmental educational campaign in five states across the US.

In 2010, he accepted an English teaching appointment at Woodberry Forest School where he’s been since. Woodberry Forest is an all-boys boarding school in central Virginia. Ryan’s work with students is rooted in the classroom but extends beyond it in the dormitories and athletic fields.

• Teaching: Stories are perhaps the most powerful means we have to understand and empathize with others. Ryan’s primary work in the classroom is to teach how to read, write, and analyze stories. Additionally, the classroom is a great avenue to build relationships with young men still developing their views of the world and struggling to find their voice in it.
• Coaching: Ryan has coached football, basketball and lacrosse at Woodberry Forest School. Because the boys are typically more emotionally invested in their favorite sport than they are in the classroom, Ryan has found tremendous potential for relational investment.
• The extra curriculum: In addition to the classroom and athletic field, there are other avenues to build relationships with students that Mandy and Ryan enjoy. For example, they eat four family-style dinners a week with a rotating group of eight boys. They also live in an apartment attached to a dormitory, alongside about 70 junior boys. Whether it’s playing pick-up basketball games, hosting a Bible study, or driving a boy to get his hair cut, there are many ways to meaningfully connect with boys in this setting.

Outreach and Family. Mandy and Ryan were both heavily involved with Campus Outreach when they attended Davidson College. They both spent a year in the DC area and served with the middle school youth ministry at The Falls Church in Falls Church, VA. They currently attend a local Anglican church. Their main outreach today happens with the boys that they work with at The Woodberry School.