June 2009 1791 Letter - Berwick Academy

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Having now lost the obligatory blue blazer and pastel tie, I make my journey back and forth between BD and the Hayes House each morning, the echoes already beginning to sing. I can wear sunglasses now, and I have more time to glance up in directions that I am too busy to acknowledge during the regular year. Usually I watch my shoes. After the whirlwind climax of the end of year, one can’t help but pause in the newfound quiet and refl ect. Gazing across the empty quad of Fogg Field, the campus has never looked more impressive; it is the crowning achievement of our grounds crew to present this place so beautifully for graduation. Sometimes I wished our families truly knew how hard they must work to pull this off. There is an irony in it as well – the campus being at its most pristine at a time when it becomes suddenly dormant. It seems fi tting that this occurs in June, as if our School has been so enriched by a year of growth and contribution that it is literally bursting with aesthetic beauty. The echoes as I walk are the reverberations of learning and improvement from a year at Berwick Academy. The whispers are an infi nite number of conversations and interactions between peers and adults, all geared toward becoming better people, becoming a better school. Sometimes I reflect on what a school like ours really is – a campus? an institution? a community? a religion? Where, for example, does it actually begin and end? One trusted colleague and friend here has challenged this in claiming that in fact institutions do not even exist; only people do. Insights like these appropriately shake the core of favorite Head of School mantras like, “We need to do what is best for the institution.” What I know for sure is that our school is alive, slightly dormant at this particular moment in June, but undeniably a living, breathing, cyclical organism. Perhaps that is the true thrill of trying to lead such a place: the humbling realization that it cannot, and should not, be fully controlled. It can be nurtured and guided, but never contained or limited. I would do well to continue embracing this exquisite spontaneity. The deeper one thinks about the connections and murky boundaries between individual student growth, faculty growth, and institutional growth, the more one begins to spiral. As I pass the Arts Center on this daily walk home, I hear the voices of the Baccalaureates, the concerts, and the assemblies. These are moments of risk taking, celebration, and growth. Walking towards Fogg, suddenly the sense of history cannot be ignored. This is an institution that has been long at work on a noble mission, and yet the nature of education has changed so dramatically in 200 years. The people are different, and yet the values feel unchanged. I have always believed that schools like Berwick teach character not only through our programs, our ceremonies, and our speeches, but through the hundreds of unseen interactions between students and adults every day. In fact, as Head of School, an honest admission is that I rarely observe the moments when the school is at its best in this regard; I merely trust these moments are happening. The echoes assure me that this is so. I hear ephemeral vibrations of these moral conversations as I walk homeward, paradoxically grateful for the respite from school life but keenly aware that our organism is in hibernation. Soon it will stretch and grow once again. A lot has been made in recent years, including during my search process at Berwick, about how might we package, market, and ultimately sell this complex organism that we call home. We celebrate its facilities, its achievement, its history, its programs, its accomplishments. In the maturing, strangely quiet days of June on the precipice of summer, I am more keenly aware than ever that we are always about our people. We are a giant catalyst for human interactions, and my fundamental job is to fi nd the best people, the best spaces, and the best umbrella of values and boundaries within which those exquisite human interactions can fl ourish. As I turn the corner past Fogg, my house comes into view. I glance out into the expansive fi elds with which we are blessed. Some of my favorite Berwick moments have occurred when each fi eld is fi lled with competition on a beautiful fall or spring day. While the competition is part of the thrill, a larger part is the ability to walk between the games and bump into parents who have come together to celebrate their children. Without fail, people ask me about my life and my family. They care. It is hard for me to find forums in which I can truly say thank you. Perhaps this is one. Finally, on this beautiful June afternoon, I make my way to “Ridgway Ridge,” fabled to have been put in place by my predecessor with ancient pool stones. They mark the path of 2 1791 Letter ~ June 2009
connection between home and work that he so ably etched for nearly twenty years. I remember my walk through this same tunnel earlier this winter during the ice storm. With no power in my house, complete darkness at 4:00 in the morning, I felt like an explorer on a quest to BD, with the grail being some functional technology that might enable me to cancel school. Limbs snapped like shotguns in the darkness, but the path, trodden so many times before, steered me well. Soon the campus became a refuge of sorts for our families, where kids could study or shower. Other seasons on the path this year involved navigating hauntingly muddy waters. In complete isolation on a raw morning in late March, you might have found me leaping from stone to stone amidst the mud in my dress shoes of the day, doing my best impersonation of a hyperactive frog. In June, however, the ridge is easy now, lined with greenery and birds that announce my arrival home. Opening the door to the mudroom – a full two years later from the first time I entered this space – I no longer have to announce my arrival. The dog barks, and my oldest daughter begins to squeal. As I step out into the kitchen, my youngest daughter snuggles against my wife’s chest. The squealing elder is now in full view, running down the hallway with open arms that will soon consummate in what she likes to announce as “the biggest hug in the world.” Maybe my friend was right in saying that in the end there are only people. And yet there is something reassuring about my family living attached to a larger being – a living, breathing, growing spirit – that is committed to doing such good work for its people. Thank you, Berwick, for making this a wonderful year. Congratulations Class of 2009 We celebrated a glorious graduation weekend on the Hilltop this year, with an exceptional address from Dr. Dora Mills. I would like to congratulate our graduates one last time on all they have achieved. We hope that they will not be strangers to the Hilltop in the future. Health Form Reminder Please remember that all health forms are due by July 13 this year. We are working hard to become more timely and efficient in our medical protocols for next year. Thank you for making your best effort to meet this new deadline. Dogs on Campus If you come to campus this summer, you will notice new signage clarifying our policy that all dogs need to be on leashes while on campus. Our families are generally very good about this practice, but we need to enforce this more consistently next year as an important safety measure for everyone. 1791 Letter is Going Paperless I am pleased to announce that as a cost saving measure and in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly, the 1791 will be available online (on the School Portal) next year and will also be sent via email each month. We estimate that by going fully online, this switch could save the Academy as much as $4,000 annually. The new version will be formatted for easy printing from your computer if you prefer to read in hard copy. However, we will happily mail a printed copy to any family who is still interested in receiving the 1791 by traditional mail for the 2009-2010 academic year as we make this transition. If you would like to receive a hard copy, please contact Sondra Farrell in the front offi ce. 1791 Letter ~ June 2009 Have fun I want to be sure and wish each and every family a restful and relaxing summer this year. I truly look forward to seeing you once again in September. ARE YOU LOGGED ON? Berwick Academy’s online community is known as a ‘portal.’ The portal is your door....your point of entry to all things Berwick! You reach the portal from www.berwickacademy.org, click on Current Parents and log in with your username and password. Mark this page in your Favorites. Once logged in, you will be taken directly to the Parent Portal for all your Berwick Academy information. YOU MUST LOGIN TO THE PORTAL FOR IT TO BE OF USE TO YOU. TO LOGIN the first time: Use your full name, no spaces, as your username. For your password, use your zip code. You will then be required to set your own password for future logins. If you happen to be an alumni of Berwick Academy, use your full name + 4 digit graduation year. Use your zip code as your password. Once you login, browse through the blue bar buttons on the left. Go to your Profile and update your information, including your e-mail address. Click on the word Parents, and see your links and downloads. Trouble? E-mail Tracey Kelly at tkelly@berwickacademy.org 3
Page 1: June 2009 CLASS OF 2009 GRADUATION
Page 5 and 6: As I write this month’s contribut
Page 7 and 8: Rob Quinn SPRING SPORTS SUCCESS ON
Page 9 and 10: PRESIDENT’S NOTES It is hard to b
Page 11 and 12: thank you to Peter Saliba, Ted Smit
Page 13 and 14: Rachel Saliba SANDERS TO MAKE HISTO
Page 15 and 16: SPORT MVP COACH’S JV Softball Mon

June 2009 1791 Letter - Berwick Academy

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