Teacher feature: Mr. Chris Fryberger

Mr. Chris Fryberger, Archbishop Carroll’s history and academic support teacher, is committed to putting his students first, which is reflected in a busy schedule that consists of no prep or lunch period break. He is the only teacher in the school who works all eight periods every day.

This year is Mr. Fryberger’s sixth year teaching at Carroll. In addition to monitoring and teaching students who receive educational accommodations to address learning differences, Mr. Fryberger teaches College Prep Government but has taught College Prep Word History and College Prep and Honors Government as well.

Whether a student has accommodations or not, Mr. Fryberger offers a supportive hand to any student who asks for help. 

“I love being told by my students my room feels like a safe space, and when they are in need to just whine down that my door is open,” said Mr. Fryberger.

Helping students motivated Mr. Fryberger’s career choice.

“I wanted to work with kids,” said Mr. Fryberger.

Mr. Fryberger attended Shippensburg University, where he majored in history and received his teaching certificate. After graduating from college, Mr. Fryberger accepted his first job within weeks. He was a long-term substitute 7th grade history teacher at Perkiomen Valley High School in Montgomery County. 

Mr. Fryberger’s second job was as a one-on-one instructional support aid with a Down syndrome student during her kindergarten and first grade school years. 

“Without the experience of working with a Down syndrome kid, I wouldn’t be working here at Carroll today,” said Mr. Fryberger. “Working with her for two straight years really made me start to appreciate the little things in life.”

Mr. Fryberger spent his fourth year teaching at Perk Valley as a one-on-one instructional support aid with a student with apraxia, meaning she was non-verbal. 

Now at home in Room 106 for his skills classes and in Mr. Murphy’s Room 204 for his history class, Mr. Fryberger talked about what his dream history class would be.

“If I could create one class and teach it, it would be called History Through Film,” said Fryberger. “The material covered would occur starting at WWI and continue through the present day. Students would have to read one book a marking period based on social, economic, and political components. I would teach this class through movies. For example, when discussing the Civil Rights era, the film ’42’ about Jackie Robinson and the baseball color barrier could be watched and discussed. This idea came from Mr. Murphy.”

Working as a physical therapist or chiropractic would likely be Mr. Fryberger’s job if he wasn’t a teacher. 

“My close family members work in that occupation today, and it seems like it would be a fun change,” said Mr. Fryberger.

In Mr. Fryberger’s free time, “which I make sure I make time for, I am golfing,” he said. “If I could golf every single day, I would.”

If given the opportunity to meet or talk to a person living or deceased, he would choose Rory McIlroy, which would make sense based on his love for golf.

Mr. Fryberger’s favorite memory at Carroll took place during his third year here.

“I will never forget watching Father Spez run down the hall to stop the senior prank, which was a slip and slide down the rainbow hallway,” Mr. Fryberger said.

Some of Fryberger’s favorite things are as follows. His favorite movie is Remember the Titans. His favorite book is Harry Potter. His favorite TV show is Sopranos. His current favorite restaurant is Fogo De Chao. Mint chocolate chip or butter pecan is his go-to ice cream, and his favorite vacation spot is ocean city New Jersey.