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.