- January 12, 2026
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Two years ago, Baylie McKenna was taking a math test at The Out-of Door Academy when she began feeling anxiety and had to leave the room.
She was unexpectedly greeted by Mike Newhams, a science teacher who had yet to have McKenna in her class.
“He just gave me a hug to help me calm down — and it really helped,” McKenna said. “He taught me a lot. Mistakes are fine and you're not going to be perfect. Hard work beats talent.”
McKenna, a senior, was reflecting on her moments with Newhams, who died Dec. 30, after longterm complications from cancer treatments. Newhams began teaching at ODA in 1997.
Jeff Newhams said his brother was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1986.
“The treatment over the next almost 40 years basically destroyed his body,” Jeff Newhams said. “He had cardiac surgery four years ago that was very complex, and his health has been OK since then, but a little bit fragile."
Newhams was known for being an active member of the school and participating in just about every event. Throughout his time at ODA, Newhams ran or helped various clubs and sports including golf, student council, baseball, basketball and the honor council.
Tim Brewer, a senior dean at the school, has been working at ODA since 1995 and was a close friend of Newhams.
ODA Art Teacher Leslie Garasic said Brewer and Newhams always would find a way to make the students and staff members laugh.
“They would run up ahead and we didn't notice that they were gone,” Garasic said. “All of a sudden, we'd have a heart attack, because the two of them would jump out at us.”
Brewer said Newhams took his job seriously, but not too seriously. Newhams dressed up for every holiday and spirit day, which included the two of them dressing up as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne from the 1994 film “Dumb and Dumber.”
Brewer said Newhams was willing to help in any way he could.
“It didn't matter whether you knew him for 30 years or you just met him yesterday,” Brewer said.
Ava Heise, a senior at ODA, said he taught his students to learn rather than just memorizing material to pass a test.
“One day after school, I stayed with him for two and a half hours just to learn one concept,” Heise said. “He made sure I was able to explain it all myself. No matter who you were and what intelligence level you were at, he would give the same amount of effort to everybody.”
“I think that was the beauty of Mike,” said Sean Ball, who is the head of the Upper School. “Mike took everything to the extreme. He loved giving to the school and giving to the students.”
Brewer said Newhams knew the way to the kids’ hearts was making them laugh.
He would cook breakfast for his students who were in his “advisory,” which is similar to home room.
“We'd ask if we could help and bring stuff, like orange juice,” senior Ella Kwon said. “He would always say, ‘No, I got it.’ So he did it all himself and then all the other advisories would look at us and be jealous.”
Newhams would display a list of quotes he heard his students say. McKenna said it was her goal to make the list, and she did it three times. One was her quote questioning if carpenters make carpets.
“He made them feel so comfortable in that classroom that if they said something silly, he wanted to write it down and put it on the wall,” Brewer said. “They trusted him that much and that was such a safe space for them. It was almost an honor to make it on Newhams' wall.”
Newhams was immunocompromised during the peak of COVID-19 and ODA gave him an opportunity to continue teaching by setting up an outdoor classroom.
“Most people in his health condition would not have worked during that time because getting COVID could have been a much bigger problem than it might have been for a healthy person,” Jeff Newhams said. “It shows how much he loved teaching.”
Garasic is disappointed her own children will not get to experience Newhams' lessons.
“Students can't say that they walked out of his classroom without learning the skills that would make them a better person and a better student,” Garasic said.
Newhams' children, daughter Kinsey and son Ryan, were among the students he had over the years. There were “lifers” meaning they attended ODA from pre-k to their senior year. Kinsey graduated in 2019 and Ryan graduated in 2022.
“He made being at school fun rather than just something I had to do, and now I am continuing to find ways to keep myself in school,” Kinsey Newham said. “His love of teaching has meant the world to me and has allowed him to touch so many people throughout the Out-of-Door community. He poured his heart into everything he did right to the very end. I could never say enough nice things about him to make it clear how incredible he was.”
