Ben Lathrop has been teaching at Harding High School since he and his family moved into the neighborhood in August 2008. At the time, he was married with one child and one cat and two jobs. In the ensuing years, he acquired five more children, several more cats (only one of which currently resides at the Lathrop home), and several grey hairs, and has kept his second job as faculty adviser to the student newspaper at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.. Having worked as a newspaper reporter in a previous life, Mr. Lathrop teaches Journalism at Harding and advises The Beacon in addition to teaching English.

Mr. Lathrop is a graduate of Grove City College (B.A. in English with minors in Communication and Religion) and the University of Minnesota (Master of Eduacation). Naturally, he likes to read and discuss books, but he also enjoys playing the piano, writing songs, jamming, drinking coffee and tea, playing board games and card games, camping, fishing, hanging out with his wife, watching television and movies, studying and discussing theology, traveling, and hearing people's stories.

His favorite novels include The Idiot, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Brothers K, Gilead, and The Chosen.