Skip to main content

Behind the scenes

I often like to use the word authenticity when talking about Berwick Academy. I have said that I feel more able to be myself at Berwick than any place I have worked to date; it truly is a gift to feel that way. For parents, we usually focus on the teachers and coaches who make our kids’ lives so dynamic, and we forget the people behind the scenes who make the Berwick experience possible: maintenance, custodial, food, transportation, and support staff, etc. Berwick could not deliver the program it delivers without such high quality yet largely unheralded work.

The same could be said of the Head of School. I am quick to point out that being a father is far more humbling than being a Head of School. There is no way on earth that I could have possibly moved this school forward without the unquestioned support of my wife, Amy. I often marvel that, in addition to dealing with a husband who can be tired and grumpy at the end of long days, she somehow has managed to catalyze the amazing growth and development of our three girls. There could be no more powerful example of customized learning or differentiated instruction: each girl is unique. Yet Amy is also a presence for Berwick as well, smiling in the Lower School hallways, actively working to make connections with teachers and other parents. At home, she is quick to open our doors for an event to entertain community members and donors. People open up to Amy, as she naturally puts others at ease. She also sees opportunity for improvement and has a capacity for empathy that is beyond my skill set. I have learned so much from her example.



What I have especially learned and absorbed is the contagious optimism that emanates from being purposely joyful. Innately wired to be social and have fun, Amy can remind me with a smile that running a school is more about people and less about risk and liability. She knows that our legacy as a couple here will not be the list of structures erected or programs invented, rather it will be judged on the quality and depth of the relationships we have formed over time. She gives time to people, as she is authentically interested in everyone’s story.

Surely we all have people behind the scenes that help makes us our best version of our selves. As we head into this most spectacular period of fall foliage, I am reminded that we would all be wise to thank these people more often than we do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Piercing the Bubble

This week we were so fortunate to have former NH Senator Kelly Ayotte address grades 7 – 11 in our theater about Civil Discourse in a time of Political Polarization. Senator Ayotte spoke to the need to take the high road in tough conversations and put an incredible primacy on building relationships with people who hold different opinions. She was able to speak to some of her own successes in working across the aisle to develop legislation to address the opioid crisis in New Hampshire as one powerful example of how this can be possible. Additionally, Senator Ayotte offered a strong reminder to our students of the need for more women in positions of leadership within our government, citing that she had only been the 53rd woman to serve in the US senate during her tenure. With a down-to-earth style and but an appropriately impassioned call to action, she challenged our students to become the leaders that they could be. Her call to action and example of service were powerful reminder...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arts Underground

One of Berwick’s great strengths is its arts culture, and I have always felt that there is both a public and private face of this culture. The public face includes our amazing concerts, our ambitious productions, and the various art shows we produce throughout the year. The private face tends to include things like private lessons, coffeehouses, assembly performances, murals painted on walls, and unexpected artistic expressions that emerge on campus throughout the year. One of the great traditions I will miss at Berwick will be the annual recital week in April. So many of our students hone their craft on private music lessons throughout the year in the hopes of having a public performance at this time. Simultaneously, we have a week of performances in the theater and in Chip Harding’s coffeehouse lair – the space he likes to refer to as his “smoldering ruins,” referring to the carnage left there after every Middle School electric guitar class. This year, for my second and final time, I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Senior Arts Night

We often say in the Admissions office that it is hard to truly bottle the Berwick experience for prospective families to understand. Senior Arts Night is one of those magical Berwick moments that is difficult to fully explain. One certainly feels the power of a PK-12 community when kids announce they will be playing the song they last played in the fourth grade talent show. When I spend time with these young adults, I feel such optimism for the future. Last night I was able to sit with some senior parents, some of whom I have known for over a decade. Whether it was hearing their own child sing or a peer sing, it did not take long for the tears to roll. What I have always loved about Senior Arts night is that it never fails to offer surprises – a voice I didn’t know about or an artist that had been working in the shadows. It is a night when I often most appreciate the value of the “whole child” education that we preach on this Hilltop. Beyond the reality that being able to play guitar ...
Post a Comment
Read more