Mr. Ethan Fuld is no Ramaz newbie. As a previous Ramaz high school student, Mr. Fuld has had plenty of the iconic Ramaz teachers including Dr. Jucovy, Rabbi Shiowitz, and Ms. Brachot. He is excited to replace Mr. Vovsha as the TEC and Coding teacher. In addition to Mr. Vovsha’s role, he is also the instructor for the newly offered 10th grade Web Design Elective and faculty advisor to the Coding Club. 

Sarah Silverman: Where are you from? 

Mr. Ethan Fuld: I am from Englewood, New Jersey. I was a Ramaz commuter student, and went to both high school and middle school here. I actually had a bunch of the teachers you guys have now. I had Ms. Litwack for English and Mr. Deutsch for History. 

SS: Does it feel weird to work with staff members who were once your teachers? 

EF: It was weird for like two weeks, and then I got used to it. It’s something you will all see when you become adults which is that the age gaps don’t matter as much anymore. When you’re younger the difference between a sixth-grader and an eighth-grader or a freshman and senior is huge. Later in life, you can become friends with people twenty years older than you and it makes no difference. I was also a goody-goody in high school, so my teachers liked me so when I came back they were excited to see me. 

SS: What were your favorite and least favorite subjects in school? 

EF: My favorite subjects were Math and Science. Specifically, I loved Chemistry and Calculus. I was looking forward to coming back and having Ms. Brachot as my boss since I loved her as my chemistry teacher. Talmud was my least favorite class. 

SS: Why did you want to teach in high school? What jobs did you have before this?

EF: I have always liked teaching. I knew in college I wanted to teach eventually, but I wanted to work in the industry first to get experience. I have been a software engineer for the last six years. I was the first front-end engineer at Revel, the company that makes the blue mopeds you see on the street. I wrote the code that helped all the internal people fix the bikes. And while I was good at it, it was really just writing code for eight hours a day. On a whim, I looked up Ramaz and wanted to see if they had any job openings, and they did so I interviewed and got the job. 

SS: Why are you passionate about coding? Why did you want to teach this subject? 

EF: It’s funny I didn’t know I was interested in this until my senior year of high school when I took AP Computer Science. I only took it cause my siblings told me I should. They were like, this is the future and you are gonna be good at it. From the second I started I realized how awesome it was. The world is more and more relying on technology so it’s best to be at the forefront. 

SS: What do you enjoy doing in your free time? What kind of interesting things did you do in college?  

EF: I am a part-time personal trainer. I love cooking, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and sewing. I have a sewing machine. I make art, mostly sculpture and wood. My favorite movie is The Grand Budapest Hotel. I am a fan of Wes Anderson movies. In college, I was a video game minor, so I liked creating those. I also sang in an Acapella group. I helped out in the creative and art department and helped put on musicals. 

SS: What do you say to kids who struggle with TEC or Coding? What advice do you have for them?

 EF: My advice is to keep at it. Learning technical skills is more like training a muscle than learning math. It requires way more practice and a lot less study. The more you try things out the better you become. You never have to relearn it, you will know how to do it. 

SS: Is there anything you want to say to Ramaz students? 

EF: I am pretty friendly so if you see me in the hallway say hi. If you ever want to learn anything in TEC just opt into my class. I am looking forward to a great year!