A Tidal Wave of Perspective

Peter Lynch (right) with Nativity Prep students

By Cora Davis, Communications Director

In 2009, when Peter arrived at Nativity Prep New Bedford, Massachusetts as a new college graduate with an interest in working in Washington, DC, Peter believed a year of service with NDMV was a perfect opportunity. 

Peter had a comfortable upbringing, and imagined a future in education someday, maybe. But he wasn’t prepared for what he found at Nativity Prep, a small tuition-free middle school for boys from low-income families.

“It was a tidal wave of perspective change,” he says now. “You start to learn about students’ lives and where they’re coming from. You suddenly understand a lot more about what the education system looks like for others.”

During his two service years with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers (2009–2011), Peter taught 6th-grade social studies and 5th-grade math. Like most NDMV Nativity teachers, he had no formal teaching experience. But at Nativity Prep, everyone learned together—teachers, students, and families.

“All the NDMV teachers lived in the house next to campus,” he remembers. “None of us had taught before, so we were learning the craft and joining this culture of community.”

Students arrived in shirts and ties each morning as “Nativity Prep gentlemen,” ready for full days that often ended with a structured study hall from 5–7 p.m. “There was such a strong sense of camaraderie,” Peter says. “Working as a team on such a clear mission—I've never come across anything like it again.”

His experience has stayed with him over the years. Peter still keeps in close touch with the colleagues he lived and worked alongside. “Some of my best friends are people I met during those two years,” he says. Recently, he returned to Nativity Prep’s 21st anniversary celebration and found himself face-to-face with a former fifth-grade student who is now married, teaching, and raising a family.

“That was a moving moment,” Peter says. “It helped me see just how sacred those years were.”

After his service years, Peter returned to graduate school so he could continue teaching. Today he teaches 11th and 12th grade English in a school of more than 3,000 students. The pace is very different from Nativity’s intimate, relational environment.

“You can fall into the trap of a ‘get-them-in, get-them-out’ mindset,” he admits. “But Nativity taught me something I still come back to every day: you don’t know what a student is carrying.”

He remembers hearing about the challenges families in New Bedford were facing—job insecurity, housing issues, illness, loss. “It taught me not to jump to conclusions. Kids might be going through things you can’t see.”

As a person of faith, Peter continues to draw from an insight embedded in Nativity Prep’s Jesuit roots:  “Every single student is a child of God. They deserve the best you can offer. They’re uniquely loved by someone. There’s a real weight and sacredness to that.”

He smiles as he added, “That mindset really kicks in on the days I’m exhausted and forget why I became a teacher”.

Some of the moments Peter holds on to are small moments—like talking through a playground conflict, or watching middle-school boys recite the Our Father together during morning circle. “Those were moments of brotherhood and restoration. Sometimes those conversations mattered more than anything I taught in math.”

Looking back now, Peter says his two years with NDMV shaped him more than he expected—and faster than he expected.

“For young people, there’s this sense that everything needs to happen right away—career, stability, all of it. But service slows you down in the best way. It helps you grow by throwing yourself into the service of others. It helps you find yourself.”

He’s still subscribed to NDMV newsletters, still stops in New Bedford whenever he’s driving through, and still feels grateful for an experience that impacted him for life.

“I would never have ended up in New Bedford on my own,” he reflects. “But because of NDMV, I found a community, a calling, and a perspective that has stayed with me ever since.”