Berwick Academy Head of School

            Every year, just before the holidays, a number of holiday surprises end up on my desk from members of the Berwick community. They often include things like baked goods, chocolate, books, or occasionally, gift cards. I am always humbled by this generosity, especially when individual students deliver these gifts. I was particularly moved when I returned to my desk yesterday to find a beautiful tin with a note signed, “Love, 2016.” I quickly ran out to Colleen and asked – is this from the senior class? She confirmed my suspicion. I was frankly a bit stunned, as this had never happened before. Later last night, at our faculty holiday party, I learned that the senior class had done this for all Upper School employees as well.             At the end of today, we will have our holiday candle lighting ceremony, which will honor our seniors as a group. It needs to be said that their energy, optimism, and leadership this year have been remarkable. Whether it has been daily asse

            I returned to Upper School Assembly this past Monday to learn about amazing results from a few of our clubs. In particular, I was struck that just a few years ago we had no mock trial, model UN, or debate team in our Upper School. Now these clubs have become essential student-driven initiatives within the Berwick experience. We learned that our Mock Trial team has grown to twenty students and fought all the way to the finals against reigning champion Cape Elizabeth. Apparently we took them to a three – three tie and lost in a devastating tie-breaker. Hearing the students report back about the experience made it clear how deeply they cared about this. Amory Mansfield, the group’s advisor, mentioned that the quality of the competition was equal to collegiate and graduate school efforts that the judges had seen in the past. Mock Trial Team at the State Championship              This year, we are also seeing our first formalized debate team in the Upper School. This

            C oming back from Thanksgiving, it has been amazing to see some of the new curricular initiatives coming to life. In the Middle School alone, we are seeing incredible new innovations. Our Middle School faculty have worked to restructure time within the existing schedule in our 6 th  and 7 th  grades to offer more interdisciplinary and student-driven work. Our 6 th  grade unit,  Footprints , focuses on sustainability as well as the theme of leaving one’s legacy.  Students have been engaged in designing a range of independent pursuits including work on designing and planning a garden, exploring the impact of theater on social interaction, analyzing data related to junk mail, spearheading a clothing drive for an orphanage in Guatemala, and many others.  Meanwhile, our 7 th  graders have been engaged in  Disease Detectives , an interdisciplinary unit focused on infectious diseases, their impact on cultures, and scientific and political efforts to eradicate disease.  In a