Ambassadors of Joy

Personally and professionally, I have a deep interest in the well-being of adolescents.  Personally, I am the father of two children ages 15 and 17.  As the Head of School, I bring the same cares and concerns to the 40 current students and roughly 100 alumni as I do for my own children and worry about how they are faring in our modern world. As such, I find myself reading a number of articles about the well-being of teens, mental health concerns, and the like.  This week, I read a particularly interesting Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, which was provocatively titled, “What if Kids Are Sad and Stressed Because Their Parents Are?”

David French, author of this piece, notes that “Teens do not exist on an island. The connection between parental emotional health and the emotional health of their kids is well established.”  Likewise, I would think that emotional health of non-parental adults is similarly impactful.  Moreover, the culture of the school, where children spend the majority of their weekdays, is also connected to children’s wellness.

As such, I have asked the faculty to consider this and to realize the weight of their impact on both the students and the climate of the school community.  While it is important that we help our students develop strong habits of mind by holding high academic standards, it is equally important that we help the students to see that the world is full of wonder.  Part of our job as teachers is to be ambassadors of joy – to convey to our students that they need not be stressed or fearful, rather that they should be excited about learning and the opportunities that exist in the world. 

In a world that can be scary or overwhelming, it is important that our children are surrounded by those that are genuinely optimistic and hopefully about the world in which we live.

Our Modern World

As Head of School at a unique school like BHS, I have the great privilege to be directly involved in many things that my peers at other schools do not.  This year, among other responsibilities, I get to teach an 8th Grade history class that is called Our Modern World.  The general premise of the class is that students will survey the history of the 20th Century, using critical thinking skills to identify, compare, and contrast the modern world to the recent past. While I have always believed deeply that knowledge of history is critical for progress in the world, my work this year as a teacher of this class has solidified this notion.

Just before the 8th Graders left for March Break, they were assessed on their understanding of the 1920’s and the onset of the Great Depression. Part of this assessment involved a test, and one of the questions on this test required the students to demonstrate understanding of a bank run.

Now, I have not had a chance to see my students in almost ten days, as we have been on break, but I am hopeful that at least one of them was paying attention to the news and connected what we were studying to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.  While I am not excited about the disruption to the banking industry or the ways that this bank run may negatively impact the economy, it exemplifies why our students are taught history.

To be sure, the study of social studies is not of greater significance or consequence than other disciplines.  In fact, a Beech Hill School education should provide our students a broad base of knowledge combined with the ability to think critically and make morally sound decisions.  As such, this is one important way to fulfill our general vision to develop intellectually curious and capable young adults who will become contributing citizens and informed decision-makers.

Autonomy

In 7th Grade, the students are learning about the American Revolution.  Specifically, they have discovered that the colonists in Boston had become so accustomed to the autonomy, that many of the colonists chaffed at any incursion on that ability to make their own decisions.  This led to a discussion on autonomy, in general.

At The Beech Hill School, it is important that the students begin to experience a degree of autonomy in their lives as well.  At BHS, however, we tend to refer to this idea as agency.  That is, we provide the students opportunities to make certain decisions about their lives, and to manage the consequences that stem from this agency.  As emerging adolescents in a small school, we allow our students a more significant degree of agency than in many of our peer schools.  We do so because we hope that our students develop the attitude that their actions and decisions shape and impact their lives, not that they are passive and that life happens to them.

This week, a group of students used their agency to create a Winter Carnival.  Under the guidance of Mr. Holt and with the support of the adults in the community, a group of students met over the course of the last few weeks to plan the week, they made announcements at Community, and they took a leadership in administering the activities throughout the week.  The Winter Carnival was a total success, culminating with a great afternoon of activities on Friday and a dance Friday night.

Of course, we hope that all the agency and autonomy our students have at school does not lead to revolutions at home – but like many of the Bostonians in the 1770s, adolescents that are yearning for independence can be a challenge to govern! We have found, however, that at its best, this sense of agency and autonomy has allowed our graduates to find success at high school and beyond and is just another reason why students thrive at BHS.

Mind and More

Every school day at BHS we gather as an entire school for “Community.”  This period serves a number of purposes, and on Friday’s, I generally have a chance to share thoughts with the students and faculty.  The faculty jokingly refer to this as “Rick’s Soap Box,” as Friday’s are my day to preach.  This Friday was the one-year anniversary of Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine, and I took a moment to connect that act with the lives of our students.

A year ago, I was incredulous that Russia would invade Ukraine.  For whatever reason – too many viewings of the Berlin Wall crumbling or my recollections of Glastnost – I can’t say – but I just thought that an invasion of this nature would not happen in my lifetime.  It has, however, and the geopolitical challenges of the modern world seem to be multiplying.  Today’s leaders will need to understand the history of how we reached this point in time and the critical thinking skills to interpret that information in a way that will, hopefully, lead us forward safely.

Our students are not yet ready to be today’s leaders, but they will be the leaders of tomorrow.  I am unsure of the world they will inherit, but I feel strongly that they will be ready for the challenge.  At BHS, they are building a foundation that nurtures their intellectual growth – that is they will confront things such as y=mx+b, f=ma, and the writings of thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and Herodotus.  In addition, they will be asked to develop a sense of virtue.  They will need to consider things like, how to use AI, how to care for friends in need and how to manage conflict.  As a school that is guided by The Foundations of Community, our students “relish the opportunity to participate in activities that will challenge (us) them intellectually, physically, and spiritually.”  Thus, when it is time for our students to lead, they will have developed themselves fully, and hopefully be prepared for a world that will be even more challenging than it is today.

Beech Hill School students will be ready for the challenge.

Sharing a Vision

A week ago, I had the pleasure of hosting an admission open house the morning of the Super Bowl.  A half dozen families dropped by that morning to learn more about The Beech Hill School.  A handful of faculty and students led our guests around the school, answering questions, providing information about the programs and, as I like to say, helping others to discover why students thrive at The Beech Hill School.  There is no script for our student and faculty tour guides, and every family brings unique questions for their guides.  In the end, the feedback that I get from prospective families is almost always the same – our tour was amazing, and you can tell how happy folks are at The Beech Hill School.

It was not always so easy to help prospective families understand the value of a Beech Hill School education.  I remember vividly, in the winter of 2012, just over ten years ago, holding information sessions about a new school beginning in the fall of 2012.  There was no building to tour at that point, there were no teachers to talk about their classes, and there were no students to share anecdotes about their experiences.  There was simply the idea that a quality middle school experience is critical, and that The Beech Hill School could provide that experience.  Fortunately, a few intrepid families had faith in this vision, and those students are now finding success in college and beyond.  In fact, one of those students is now the teacher, as Wyatt Ellinwood, BHS class of 2014, is now teaching an elective at BHS!

It brings me great joy to reflect on the history of The Beech Hill School and I am so grateful for the efforts of so many that have sustained the growth and development of BHS.  More importantly, I am incredibly proud to be part of a community where everyone – students, parents, faculty, alumni, board members, etc – can authentically and wholeheartedly feel part of something special.