James Gagliano, Staff Writer

Dr. Sherry, new to the Oratory community, has blessed the school with a mixture of a student-centered classroom environment and an “easy-to-get-along” with personality. Growing up in Ohio, Sherry was always on the move because his father was a Tire company Plant Manager. On his journey, he attended many schools, all of which were Catholic. He began his Latin career in 1960 at the Sacred Heart School in Coshocton, Ohio learning basic latin responses. Sherry attended high school at St. Francis Desalles in Toledo, Ohio where he met the biggest inspiration in his life, Father Sottek. Not only did Sottek help him grow and develop, but he was his favorite teacher as well. Sottek influenced him enough that after 10th grade latin, Sherry knew he wanted to join the list of St. Francis Desalles alumni to receive their PhD.

Currently holding the position as a Latin teacher at Oratory Prep in Summit, Dr. Sherry has the most impressive resume of all his colleagues. He comes from a very impressive educational background with degrees from University of Texas-Austin and a phD in Classics from Columbia University. After completing his PhD, he took a postdoctoral research position for Harvard University at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. At Dumbarton he read Hagiography (lives of the Greek saints) and entered those facts into a database. In fact, he created the database that is still present!

Following his very impressive tenure as a student and researcher, Dr. Sherry took a position at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ. While at Kent Place, Dr. Sherry taught himself Arabic in Roman transliteration. After his years at Kent Place, Dr. Sherry was appointed to be in charge of the Latin Department at the Buckley school in the Upper East Side section of Manhattan in New York City where he taught for 8 years. In July 2014, Dr. Sherry was appointed Latin teacher at Oratory Prep. Sherry is quoted saying, “Oratory has been a wonderful experience thus far and it is quite humbling to teach after the legend Mr. Fava.” He also added, “The commute is much easier than going to New York because I live in Summit!”

Believe it or not Dr. Sherry has many interests outside of teaching Latin. From 5th to 10th grade he played football every year. In those years he won the championship for an unprecedented six straight years. This may come as a complete surprise, but Dr. Sherry was kicked off the team! The reason being he refused to cut his hair! I bet you didn’t see that one coming. Following in his football background, Dr. Sherry is an avid New York Giants football fan and thought of the game versus the Detroit Lions “a complete nightmare.” Adding to his athletic persona, you can find Dr. Sherry swimming laps at the Summit YMCA. In fact, just recently he ran into an Oratory student swimming laps.

For those who haven’t been graced by the presence of Dr. Sherry, I advise you to introduce yourself. Not only is Dr. Sherry a phenomenal Latin teacher, but also a fantastic person.