Rich Espey

Rich created and teaches Life Science 8, an innovative, hands-on, experiment-driven, paperless, internet-based science course focusing on the human body, and was a co-creator and co-director of Advoc8, an 8th Grade experiential learning program connecting students with service organizations.

Rich was named 2011 Educator of the Year by GLSEN, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network. He has been active as a mentor to teachers new to Park and participated in numerous summer Faculty and Curriculum Advancement projects, including Culturally Responsive Science Teaching, Broadening the Conversation on Race, Aligning Life Science with NGSS, Utilizing New Technology in the Classroom, Experiential Learning for the Eighth Grade, Putting ‘Gay’ in a Positive Context, Understanding By Design, Building a More Inclusive Community: Socioeconomic Diversity at Park, Incorporating Differentiated Instruction, Middle School Science Curriculum Coordination, Faculty Writers, and Individual Playwriting. 

Rich has served on and co-chaired numerous school-wide committees, is a sponsor of the Middle School LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, has coached MiddleSchool Cross Country, and led the Park/KIPP Tutoring Program.

In addition to his school commitments, Rich is a published playwright with more than 100 productions of his plays throughout the U.S. He has won numerous playwriting awards. He developed and taught a weekly playwriting class for adults at Baltimore Center Stage, Single Carrot Theatre, and Creative Alliance.

Rich’s talk, “What You Can Do Right Now: Affirming Students Across the Gender and Sexual Diversity Spectrum” has been presented at several educational conferences.

Rich earned a B.A. in Biology from Haverford College, and an M.S. in Education from Johns Hopkins University. He was awarded a Post-Master’s Certificate in Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia from Notre Dame of Maryland University.