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.