Shiela Esten - Upper School Director
Upper School News “A fundamental concern for our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.” – Nelson Mandela This is the season of reflection. Between the holiday celebrations and the turning of the page to a new year, it seems natural to think about all that is happening with a particular eye toward gratitude and appreciation. My reflection has been enhanced recently by the planning we are doing for the upcoming All-School Holiday Assembly that will focus on the theme of giving. With the passing of Nelson Mandela, the magnitude of this consideration just grows. In the Upper School, evidence of a giving spirit abounds. Our students are so invested in forging their individual paths of growth and discovery, and a significant part of that journey involves sharing their unique talents, gifts, passions, questions, and curiosity with those around them – both in the immediate community and beyond. We know that many of our students are involved in a range of service-oriented projects outside of their school lives because these kinds of initiatives are such a central part of how they want to engage the world. It is also interesting to consider the many ways that they engage this same drive in the context of their Berwick lives. In addition to the ongoing efforts of our Outreach group which meets several afternoons a week in 4
the winter so that students can go off into the greater local community and provide a range of services, the Upper School has been engaged in some other initiatives this year that have helped to raise awareness of the range and scope of needs around us. Most recently, Brad Fletcher has engaged the community in his on-going commitment on behalf of the School to help some local South Berwick families out in the holiday season. The student response to lending the joy of holiday gifts was really pretty overwhelming.
them to share their unique stories about some of those elements that have shaped their experience and identity. This is something that Greg Schneider also did with the Board of Trustees, and with the full faculty to start the school year. The result in every case was an increased appreciation for the range of perspectives we all bring to the table and share in this Berwick community, but also an acknowledgement of the power that this gives back to each of us as we continue to try to work on behalf of ourselves and others.
On a more global scale, we have also engaged the students in some different activities this fall, with the intent of raising awareness of the range of needs throughout the world. Before Thanksgiving we spent a full day involved in two different global simulations. One asked them to actively work toward global peace – or at least the aversion of global crisis, and the other was an MIT climate simulation geared toward problem-solving around some real and urgent concerns. Our hope is that without overwhelming them, we can enhance and expand upon that natural instinct we see in our students to have a positive impact on the world around them.
To start this school year, the senior class invited Jon Davie to be the faculty speaker at Commencement. Anyone who knows Jon knows that he is a passionate advocate for environmental issues. In his talk, he implored the seniors at the outset of this important year, to start thinking about the greater world they will soon be entering with an eye toward how they can bring the fullness of their passion and experience to engage it for the better. While the wide eyes of the seniors in that particular moment suggested this might be a more overwhelming idea than they bargained for on the eve of their senior year, there is no question in my mind that they, and their classmates after them, are well poised to give it their best shot.
Last week, we also engaged the senior class in an exercise that while very intimate in its execution, is also an avenue toward broadening awareness. As a part of our school-wide AIM initiative designed to get an issues of multiculturalism and inclusivity in our community, we spent some time with the seniors in small groups, asking 1791 Letter ~December 2013