27 F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 6
VISIONAERIE
ose of us who have been touched
by a Palmer Trinity School education
in one way or another know that –
beyond the stellar academics, the visual
and performing arts, the chapels, the
athletics, the life-altering trips, and
even graduation – it's the welcoming
and caring people among us, our PTS
family, that makes this institution
the true gem that it is. And even
within a community so great, there
are those few special individuals that
seem to standout from the rest.
One such man is our current Upper School Head, Mr. Ashley Chapman:
an academic, a leader, a scholar, and someone we can always count on to
make us laugh. He is this issue's VisionAerie: Ashley Chapman.
Born and raised in South Africa, Ashley never thought he would end up in
Miami. He did, however, know that he always wanted to teach and work in
a school – wherever that might be. "I knew for a long time that I wanted to
be a teacher," Ashley recalls. "My dad always wanted me to be an attorney or
go into business, but I believed I was meant to teach."
He credits his love for teaching English specifically to his own educational
experience, one he knows he was very lucky to have. Inspired by the
wonderful English teachers he had in high school, Mr. Chapman went on
to double-major in English and Afrikaans en Nederlands at the University
of the Witwatersrand, and then earned his Diploma in Education, the
latter of which was a requirement if you wanted to teach in South Africa.
With these accomplishments under his belt, Ashley – born to an insurance
From top
Mr. Chapman at a graduation ceremony; First PTS class: 1995;
Mr. Chapman and his children in 1984.
T E A C H I N G
