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Keith Woods

Mr. Keith Woods enters his thirteenth year as a Social Studies Teacher at GDRHS.  His educational background includes a BS in Urban Studies from Worcester State and a Master’s in Education from Boston University.  In addition to his responsibilities as a teacher of United States History, he also coordinates the internship program and chairs the Social Studies department.  His interests include coaching basketball and spending time with his wife and three beautiful daughters. 

Richard Arena

Rick Arena enters his eleventh year as social studies teacher and coach at GDRHS.  Mr. Arena teaches World History and Modern European History while coaching both football and lacrosse.  Mr. Arena has recently run for State Representative and spent last semester on sabbatical in Italy participating in long distance learning through multi-media with his students at GDRHS. 

Christine Olson

Social Studies teacher Christine Lamson Olson is in her fourth year at GDRHS.  Ms. Olson teaches Modern United States History and Public Speaking.  Ms. Olson is a class of 2007 advisor.  Her interests include social history and minority studies. Ms. Olson earned her B.A. and M.A. in Modern American History from the University of New Hampshire. She completed a master’s thesis titled The Manchester Children’s Home 1884-1932:  Women and Social Progress.  Ms. Olson’s work experiences prior to arriving at GDRHS include drug and alcohol counseling, probation and social work. 

Colin Murphy

Colin Murphy, in his third year of teaching at GDRHS, teaches World History I and World History II.  Mr. Murphy has experience working in historical museums and has sat on municipal historic committees.  He is also a professional and volunteer historian for the National Park Service, the United States Navy and Marine Corps and a living historian on board USS Constitution.  He has worked as an advisor for historical documentaries for the History Channel and PBS and is currently working on a number of scholarly works for publication about the early years of the American Republic.  Mr. Murphy was the head coach of the boys Junior Varsity Lacrosse team at GDRHS and is an assistant football coach at Ayer High School.  He is married and has a son.

Janice DeBenedictis

Janice DeBenedictis is in her sixth year of teaching Social Studies at Groton-Dunstable High School.  She currently teaches Sociology, World History, and Modern US History.  Ms. DeBenedictis is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts with Bachelor degrees in Sociology and History with a Masters’ degree in education.  In her spare time she can be found hiking with her husband and two sons.

Jason Gutzler

Jason Gutzler is in his second year teaching World History at GDRHS.  He is a graduate of Worcester State College, cum laude, with a B.A. in History and Philosophy.  He is a member of the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honors Society and specializes in the 18th century Enlightenment.  In addition to teaching, Mr. Gutzler is in his second year coaching the Boys Freshman Soccer team and it will be his fifth year coaching high school sports.  Mr. Gutzler has been a volunteer EMT for six years and is a certified American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor.

Sam McLellan

Sam McLellan was hired as a permanent substitute for the second semester of the 2005 school year to replace Rick Arena who was in Europe on sabbatical.  He taught two sections of World History I as well as one section of Modern European History, a senior elective.  Mr. McLellan had been in the Andover School System for two years before coming to GDRHS.  Mr. McLellan graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a BA in History and Social Thought and Political Economy.  He hopes to remain in the Groton-Dunstable School District for the upcoming school year.