The magic of drop-off

Sometimes I think there is nothing that captures the spirit of Berwick Academy better for me than morning drop off. On a given day, I usually have to pick my area of emphasis, as it can be hard to tackle all three divisions in one morning. On Wednesday I started in the Lower School parking lot, where I had a chance to open a few car doors and wave to some parents coming through for another day on the Hilltop. Without fail, I get slapped multiple high fives from our Lower School students as they literally zip past me to get in the building. Usually I try to get a reaction with something like “Ready to learn something today?” I am lucky if I get a response, as these kiddos are generally shot out of a cannon headed to their homerooms to see their friends. But every once in a while, I get to meet a new stuffed unicorn or narwhal, or I might view a demonstration of a particularly challenging “ninja move.” And with Halloween approaching, we obviously have lots to discuss. If one ever wants to be reminded that joy in learning is alive and well at Berwick, LS drop off is the place to be.

Next I made my way over to the Middle School to see what was happening in the Great Room. As per usual, the walls were thumping with pre-adolescent energy; the place generally feels about five degrees warmer than anywhere else on campus. In fact, a new ping-pong table had just been brought out of someone’s garage, so the game was on by the time I arrived. I checked in with the adults on duty, who seemingly just marvel at the boisterous scene as par for the course with Middle School kids. On a lark, I wandered into one of the advisory groups and found myself in the room of one of our Mandarin teachers, Christie Barnes. The advisory was actually circled up and playing something that looked like a hacky sack adorned with robust magenta plumage. Without batting an eye, I asked if I could join the circle and turned a few heads with my skills. I whacked away with insteps and outsteps even in my recently polished dress shoes. Turns out this was a Chinese version of what we know as hacky sack, and it involved counting in the language and collaborating as a group. Mostly it was just fun.

Just yesterday I had spent my morning at Upper School assembly, where I try to help out by opening doors and welcoming the kids into the theater. I chatted with an Upper School faculty member who blew me away with his apparent ability to know every single name of the 315 kids walking through the doors, new students included. From there, we headed into assembly; we had a number of eighth grade students visiting to get a taste of life in the Upper School. Once the meeting was called to order, we were treated to an acoustic guitar tune by two students and even a bit of stand up comedy. Most notably, people in the crowd (adults and students) were cheering the performers on and doing their best to make them feel comfortable and supported.

There is a lot that happens on this Hilltop before 8:20 – before a student even begins to tackle what they would refer to as “class.” I have certainly come to appreciate that Berwick has many different types of classrooms, and many of them do not have four walls and sixteen desks.