Skip to main content

Laughing our way to success

On Saturday night, our community will gather for BPC’s annual spring benefit, and as per usual the amount of work and effort that has gone into it has been inspiring. It is pretty clear that we are teed up for an incredibly successful event that will allow our teachers to receive grant funding for all sorts of amazing ideas and plans for the future of the Berwick program. I also know that we are going to have some fun on Saturday night coming together and enjoying each other’s company during such incredibly busy times.

I am under strict orders not to reveal too much about the video we have created to unveil our Fund A Need project to improve parking this year. But I just need to say that I had a chance to watch it a few days ago and simply laughed out loud. I mean by myself, sitting in front of my computer screen, laughing out loud. Whatever ultimately comes of the effort in terms of fundraising, it was a moment of seeing once again how much our parents and employees care. It was also a moment to see how people at Berwick generally don’t take themselves too seriously and know how to laugh. I actually think this is no small thing in education nowadays, and I trust that this spirit is transferred down to Berwick students as well.

Humor is arguably the most effective life-coping skill we have – as kids and as adults. Being able to notice and appreciate humor offers psychological perspective and physiological healing. Usually it is only about two or three times a year when I have one of those moments with a friend when I literally can’t breathe on account of laughing so hard. They are moments when I begin to weep, and when my friends see me crying in laughter, they only laugh harder themselves. It is like an unstoppable tornado of joy when it happens like that – a twister of humor that arrives usually at the most unexpected of moments and almost always with the people we care about most.


So while I am obviously excited for a successful spring benefit tomorrow, I am even more excited about the laughter and humor that our community loves to display along the way. Continuing to pump this spirit of laughing (both at ourselves and with each other) to our children will be more important that any dollar goal we might achieve. Looking forward to seeing you Saturday….come for the video if nothing else.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Campus as Mission

Yesterday, I was fortunate to spend an entire day with our board in retreat to discuss the future of Berwick Academy. The day included strategic conversations about the future of financial aid, innovation, and our amazing campus. In considering the strengths of the Berwick campus, almost everyone spoke to the remarkable quality of our main quad, the blend of old and new buildings, and the incredible open space we have to support our programs. There is an aura of learning and support on this campus that is clearly bolstered by the physical space and buildings. This sense will only be strengthened by the addition of the new Wellness Center next year. Looking ahead, there are still improvements to be made. Certainly parking is a concern, and we continue to dream about new facilities that might make the Berwick experience even more special for our students. One of the key insights that emerged from these conversations was the way in which the physical campus needs to reflect the
Post a Comment
Read more

E.T.

I don’t think everyone is aware that for this period between Thanksgiving and Winter break, grade levels within the Middle School temporarily re-organize themselves to offer interdisciplinary learning experiences to break up the regular routine of class. This year, I was asked to participate in the “Machine Pilot” aspect of the seventh grade effort to explore the concept of extra-terrestrial life (E.T.). Seventh graders are asked to consider who, out of anyone on the planet, they would choose to send into outer space to interact with alien life forms and why. Our students are told they can literally choose any person on the planet, and the focus need not necessarily be someone with experience in space travel. In fact, they are asked to envision a pre-programmed ship with one seat, leaving them to consider not just technical skills but who would we want to represent human kind in this first interaction. They research, create resumes, write persuasive cover letters and are ultimately as
Post a Comment
Read more

A Final Dance

The Berwick events are jam packed in these final weeks of May, but a particularly special one for me has always been the amazing dance shows. Each year I am inspired to see how this program – a school within a school – comes together to put on such extravaganzas for the community to enjoy. Last weekend’s edition was one of my favorite moments to truly soak in the nature of a PK-12 school, as one can’t help but notice the progression of talent and development throughout the dance companies. Perhaps even more impressively, the dance program is one of the greatest examples we have of mentoring and role modeling across divisions. Whether that is as impressive as shared performances on stage or as mundane as managing the littlest dancers backstage, it is truly a community effort. Selfishly, this is the one program on campus that all three of the Schneider girls love equally, and as a parent it has been such a gift to see them on stage together. While they share a common bond through the
Post a Comment
Read more