Celebrating the Retirement of Carter and Erin Sio

Carter Sio ’76 and Erin Sio will retire at the end of this academic year, leaving a forty-year legacy in the George School community after teaching countless courses, fostering important relationships with students, and co-leading more than half a dozen international service-learning trips, including South Korea, Vietnam, and our original project in Tanzania, all while raising two children (Emma and Dylan Sio ’09). We thank Carter and Erin for their years of service to the school and membership in its community.

CARTER SIO ’76

After graduating in the Class of 1976, Carter received his BA from Marlboro College and gained experience further developing his art, craft, and teaching at Kirby Studios in Bennington Vermont before returning to George School in 1984 to become the school’s fourth woodworking and design teacher.

In addition to teaching, Carter has served as a dorm parent in Drayton and Orton, an advisor, and coach of cross country and developmental soccer. Carter also sponsored the Classes of 1998 and 2005, served as coordinator of the local Red Cross service project, was a regular proctor of academic assistance study hall, was a Lang Grant, sabbatical, and Laramore Chair recipient.

As a teacher and an artist, Carter is a risk taker who has brought immense personality, creativity, and inspiration to our community. Carter’s artistic and pedagogical excellence has brought widespread attention to George School, particularly to the quality of its woodworking and design program with the wider arts community.

A role model for students, Carter’s work is nationally recognized through features, awards, exhibitions, and more, and is regularly selected for local shows like New Hope Arts’ Works in Wood show, where it has received Best in Show awards. His students design and produce extraordinary works of art that go on to win Scholastic Art Awards and feature in the Philadelphia Furniture Show and Phillips’ Mills Art Show. Carter’s passion for art, the craft of fine furniture design, and the intricacies of woodworking are evident in every aspect of his teaching.

ERIN SIO

With her Bachelor of Science in Cell Biology and Biotechnology from SUNY Plattsburgh, a Masters in Organization and Management from Antioch University, and a burgeoning career in the pharmaceutical industry, Erin was an obvious choice for a sabbatical replacement role in the science department in 1993 and was invited to take on a full-time position in the fall of 1994.

Over the years, Erin taught courses ranging from Hydrology, Chemistry, ESL Science, Marine Science, and Biology. Outside the classroom, Erin served as service trip creator and leader, swim coach, founding coach of volleyball, advisor, Price Chair recipient, Clerk of the Diversity Steering Committee, member of the Curriculum Review Committee, Head of the ESL Department, faculty representative to the Board of Trustees, coordinator of the Dibner Women in Science Fund, member of the Technology Investigative Committee, Assistant Dean of Students, and Dean of Students.

Erin’s work in the classroom was distinguished by simply masterful teaching—a talented and inspired teacher, a phenomenal organizer and planner, and a visionary educator full of creative ideas. Her love of science is secondary only to her love for her students.