The power of the student voice

Yesterday, the Board of Trustees gathered for its annual retreat. It was a powerful day focused upon the purposes and goals of our new cultural competency efforts. As you might imagine, it was a topic that afforded us to think deeply about Berwick’s culture while also considering important strategic initiatives for the future. There were many powerful moments throughout the day, including presentations from Berwick faculty and our Director of Cultural Competency, Michael Buensuceso.

With all of that said, I found the most impactful part of the day to be listening to three of our Upper School students who spoke to their experiences of traveling to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) this past year. All of us, in the audience, were struck by their openness, honesty, and courage in sharing their experiences talking about hard issues around identity as well as their experience on our campus. In some cases, this came from the perspective of what it can be like to be a student of color at Berwick Academy. As Head of School, it is always so exciting to see how our trustees respond to student voices. The questions and overall tenor of engagement revealed such a level of empathy and a commitment to our mission. It was certainly a proud moment for me on all sides.

I could not help but reflect upon a few things. First of all, it would have been impossible for me to conceive of presenting on such a topic to a Board of Trustees as a high school student. As friendly and supportive as our Board may be, it is an intimidating experience to speak in front of such a gathering. My second thought was how proud I was of the way our students must have represented our school at a national summit of student leaders talking about race and identity. Their sense of balance and perspective seemed to reflect the very values we espouse as an institution.

I know that we are not perfect as a school, but I left the experience yesterday reminded that we have exceptional faculty and trustees – but especially students. I know that by continuing to listen to them, our school will be able to evolve into the strongest possible community it can be.

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Berwick Academy Head of School

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