When asked how long she taught at AFS, newly retired Upper School English teacher and former English Department Chair, Mary Lynn Ellis P’01 P’03 AFSA would laugh and shrug her shoulders. “It feels like forever.” The AFS community was fortunate enough to be graced by Mary Lynn’s many talents “officially” for 24 years, but her connection with AFS started the moment her oldest son became a student at the school in the late 1980s. Those who know Mary Lynn would say she is a mentor, a friend, an educator, a master of instilling mindfulness and courage, a liberator, a legend. And like the poetry she adores, Mary Lynn is first, foremost and always: fierce.

In her time at AFS, Mary Lynn has inspired innumerable students and colleagues to value the beauty, strength and magic found in the written word. Her love of and talent for poetry has encouraged others to find their inner voice and create something of meaning through their writing. Thanks to the generosity of donors, Mary Lynn’s poetry legacy will live on at AFS through a visiting poet program named in her honor that is scheduled to kick off during the 2021-2022 school year.

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