Champions

When I started teaching in the fall of 1995, I had minimal formal training.  Like The Beech Hill School, many independent schools do not require that their teachers have certification, formal training, or experience.  One reason for this, is that teachers at independent schools are required to do much more than teach a subject in a classroom.  While high quality teaching is non-negotiable, one thing that outstanding independent school educators have in common is that they are all champions.

By champion, I don’t mean that they necessarily won some competition.  They don’t have a  special belt and they have not conquered all challengers.  Rather, they are, as Merriam-Webster would say, “a militant advocate.” That is, great teachers are champions of various things, above and beyond the work that they do in their classroom.  They share freely their passions with their school community, and that is something that can’t be trained or certified.

On Friday afternoon, Mr. Arruda – an ardent champion of the arts, held a multi-hour drama rehearsal, followed by a movie night – that he created and has become a monthly expectation.  At the same time, Ms. Markland, a champion of the outdoors, was lugging heavy stumps from her car to the edge of the woods, as she was getting ready to create an outdoor classroom setting in “the forest.” I could go on for each of the teachers at BHS, as they are all champions of passions beyond the discipline that they were hired to teach.  That passion is infectious and the students at BHS are lucky to be surrounded and inspired by such a diverse array of individuals willing to freely share their passions.

Synergy

When I first started teaching, I was often intimidated by those in education that would use technical language that is rarely used in everyday teaching but is used in research and highly intellectual conversations about education.  Since I was not a classically trained educator, I worked very hard to become fluent in this “edu-speak.”  As my career progressed and I became an administrator, it became fashionable to read business books and to use popular business catchphrases.  Once again, I hit the books, reading Jim Collins, and others so that I could utilize the lingo of business.  In general, I found it easier to use plain language, but there were certain times when “edu-speak” or business lingo really is best.

Synergy was hot in the business world in the early 2000s and I am sure that it is still being used in and around cubicles throughout the world.  To be honest, I am sure that I have used this word many times, but this week, I experienced a synergistic collaboration that would make a case study worthy of business school.

This spring, our elective program is quite robust.  The gardening elective has been hard at work, raising plants from seed, with a grow operation in the Creative Space that would make the Jolly Green Giant proud.  Likewise, our building elective has been working hard to complete the shed that they have been building.  This week, the gardening group was trying to erect raised beds in the garden.  The students from the building elective immediately brought their technical knowledge and experience to the situation and these two electives epitomized a synergistic relationship, as they created two very well-built raised beds. 

At the end of the week, the gardeners went back to their gardening and the builders went back to their shed.  For a few days, however, the synergies created in the elective program maximized and optimized value and output.

A Lesson Learned?

In just a few weeks, my son will be graduating from high school and heading off to college.  My son, Nate, has been very fortunate to have had an exceptional high school experience at the Groton School, a boarding school in Groton, Massachusetts.  Earlier this week he shared with me the news that he had volunteered to be a senior class gift volunteer.  I have no shortage of reasons to be proud of my son, however, I was especially proud to hear this.

Nate spent the first part of his life living on a boarding school campus and while we do not “live” at the Beech Hill School, my children spent significant time on campus, waiting for their father to finish up “just one more thing.”  As a leader in schools, my children likely learned a great deal about what it takes to make a school run well.  I have no doubt, that Nate – and his sister, have heard me speak ad nauseum about the importance of philanthropy in the world of independent schools.

I wish Nate luck as he seeks to get 100% participation in giving from his classmates, but I am certain that there will be those that might give him a hard time about why they should give.  I have no doubt that all the latent messaging about supporting his school will come to him naturally.

Here at BHS, we too will be making efforts to close out the year by asking our supporters to consider a gift to the school.  In a few weeks, I will have to compare notes with Nate to see which of us had greater success in fundraising for their school!

Thoughts on Testing

This coming week, all of our students will be taking standardized tests offered by the Educational Records Bureau.  The tests take time to administer and will require us to modify our regular schedule for the next four days.  Like many other things in the world, views on standardized testing has become quite polarized with advocates and opponents filling op-ed pieces in attempts to persuade schools to either embrace or eschew their administration.

At The Beech Hill School, standardized tests provide useful feedback for students, parents, and the institution.  However, these tests are not the only, or even the most important, data point used in assessing learning, growth, curriculum, and delivery.  In just four days of testing, however, the battery of assessments provides such a broad snapshot, it is hard to imagine getting rid of this tool.  Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to spend time in Skills classes discussing standardized test taking strategies.

Just this week, Harvard University has announced that they would, again, begin to require standardized testing, like the SAT and ACT, in the admission process.  They are following the lead taken by Brown, Dartmouth, and MIT.  When big name universities move in this direction, other schools follow.  So, it is entirely likely that by the time our students are applying to colleges, standardized testing will be more broadly required than it is today.  Practice taking assessments, like the ERBs will only make things like the SATs and ACTs less daunting.

In the end, BHS will continue to use standardized testing in ways that support our programs and our students.  To remove standardized testing from our cache of tools used to improve student and institutional outcomes would not be wise.  Going forward, we will continue to integrate test preparation and testing as an important piece of a very broad and robust educational program.

Easter Pie

Last week, my family celebrated Easter.  Over the past few years, it has become tradition for me to make my version of my Grandma Farone’s Easter Pie.  There is no actual recipe, as Gram did not work from recipes. She did, however, write down an approximation of the recipe some years ago for my mother.  The recipe is dated and calls for things that I have a hard time finding here in central New Hampshire – prosciuttini and basket cheese are not readily available – even at the new Market Basket – which seems to have everything!

What I make is not exactly the same as Gram’s, but it tastes enough like Easter Pie to me that it mentally transports me to the “kids’ table” at Grandma Farone’s house.  I really value this touchstone to my family history, and my kids have come to expect that I make this heavy meat and cheese laden pie every year.  It makes me happy to think that this tradition has helped to connect my past to the present and perhaps, the future.

Although The Beech Hill School is young, we have established a number of traditions.  Some, like Mountain Day are institutional and will – hopefully, last well after all of the current faculty and staff have left the school.  Others, like the 7th Grade Financial Literacy Project, are directly connected to an individual, like Ms. Fries.  The students at BHS have come to love this project – with alumni remembering it fondly and younger students eagerly anticipating their chance to complete it.

Like Easter Pie, the traditions at BHS will change over time.  Some traditions might not age well and some will resonate more deeply for some than others. In just over twelve years, the students and faculty – past and present – have created an abundance of deep and meaningful memories that will help to connect all BHS students long into the future.