Health & Wellness Newsletter, Spring 2020

BRUNSWICK

The Connection is Good

❖ With Gratitude

❖ Bringing Up the Bright Spots

❖ Community Feeling

❖ Food Bank Deliveries Grow

❖ Blue Mondays They’re Not

❖ Being There

❖ Connections Keep Us Moving

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Health Wellness

SPRING 2020

The Connection Is Good Our spring Health & Wellness Newsletter starts with the power of connection and strength of community, now more important than ever.

Though apart for the moment, the Brunswick community continues to reach out and connect every day, in every way, and the connections have been good — remarkably good — so far across all divisions.

Upper and Middle School students Zoom into school each day for live advisories followed by live, interactive sessions with each of their classes, while Lower and Pre School boys gather live on Zoom consistently, and live gym classes are even taking place online at the Pre, Lower, and Middle Schools.

“We think the connection is the coolest bit,” said Johnny Montanez, Middle School director of physical education. “We can keep the relationship with our boys.”

There’s more — “Mystery Guests” animate Zoom sessions at the Pre School; Upper School “Brunswick Buddies” are checking in with boys in the Pre, Lower, and Middle Schools; and teachers at every level share their talent on social media.

Middle Schoolers, in particular, are mixing it up thanks to science teacher Krista Taylor, who

issues a virtual community challenge each week, and chorus teacher Brittney Redler, who keeps vocal chords warm with a Middle School song of the week.

Upper Schoolers have adapted quickly to a “Zoom Universe,” and are sharing ideas and even laughter as everyone digs into a changed world.

Virtual assemblies, of course, cannot replace being in Baker Theater. But Upper Schoolers have stepped into the online space with confidence as they reach out from quarantine to connect with classmates and teachers, and build on the traditions of Courage, Honor, Truth.

Remotely coordinated musical performances, recaps of Brunswick sporting events, and even grade wide participation in creative advisory videos are lifting spirits as the strength of the Brunswick community carries the weight of some extraordinary, long-distanced days.

❖ Remember to Read!

❖ Sustainability Connections

With Gratitude At the Lower School, the Student Council organized a division-wide service learning project — the Gratitude Challenge — asking boys and families to share the ways they have gone “above and beyond” in support of those in our community who are going “above and beyond.”

“Without prompting, boys were writing letters, creating posters, making masks, donating goods, and banging pots and pans,” said Brett Martell, who, along with Co-coordinator of the Lower School Student Council Annie Manning, helped spotlight these activities.

Student Council ambassadors Zoomed with homeroom classes to share these kind acts, and inspire others to do the same.

“That entire week Annie and I were lucky enough to have students and families share their acts of kindness and gratitude,” Martell said. “We saw posters thanking first responders, donation boxes created and filled with goods and then dropped off at various locations, thank-you notes in windows and on mailboxes for mail carriers and delivery people, baked goods made for firemen, and many others.”

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BRUNSWICK

Health&Wellness

SPRING 2020

D I G I TA L W E LLN E S S

Bringing Up the Bright Spots News headlines may be haunting, but Middle School English teacher and Coordinator of the Brunswick Trust Kate Duennebier wants boys to know that bleak reports on the Internet tell only part of the story.

Duennebier put together a virtual assembly aimed at helping Middle School boys filter reports about COVID-19, and at the same time shine a light on how Brunswick families are coming through quarantine with hope, creativity, togetherness, and silliness.

Kate Duennebier

Middle Schoolers viewed the assembly, “Silver Linings: Middle School Quarantine Stories,” online on May 7.

Duennebier told the boys that five years ago, the Brunswick Trust embarked on a mission to look at “what matters most about character.” The word “grit,” in particular, suffered from some overuse, she said, and even more, the idea of cultivating or teaching “grit” remained difficult to nail down.

“For many of our students, grit is hard to come by,” she said.

“For too many, a ‘C’ feels like an ‘F,’ and hardship has been more like ‘kinda-tough-ship.’”

That all changed, of course, in the middle of March, when COVID-19 reminded us just why things like grit and character matter.

“Starting on March 11, every single one of us started on a path that isn’t easy,” Duennebier said. “We feel overwhelmed and scared. We feel inconvenienced. We feel unsettled. We feel helpless. We feel sad. We feel unsure and uninformed.

“The world is changing around us while we sit in a closed-in, simpler, seemingly unreal existence,” she said. “We’re on screens and, weirdly, both together and apart.

“It’s clear that this isn’t easy,” she said, adding: “So, here we are: we’re developing grit. And we’re needing optimism...two aspects of our Character Continuum that circumstance seems to dictate more than we are able to control. And we’re living out this crazy ‘character journey’ in no way that anyone could have scripted it.”

News reports, in particular, are grim and difficult to digest.

“The virus is terrifying,” Duennebier said. “The images and headlines are haunting. The outlook seems bleak.”

But Duennebier finished the assembly by telling the boys that news headlines and news reports often tell only part of the story of the virus.

“That’s only one side of the story,” she said. “There is growth.

There is hope. There is creativity. There is togetherness. There is tenderness. There is silliness. The purpose of this assembly is to bring some of those bright spots to you.”

Duennebier shared photos of Brunswick life in quarantine, including all the creative and surprising ways families are coming together and making the time meaningful.

“We’re in it together,” Duennebier said, “with each other in this Middle School, and with all of Brunswick, and with all of our town, state, nation, and the world.”

COMMUNITY FEELING

Checking In!

Brunswick Brothers

There’s never been a better time to manage our moods, and social and emotional learning continues undiminished this spring at the Lower and Pre Schools.

Meanwhile, Upper School Big Brothers are reaching out to younger students in the virtual universe — connecting with boys in first through third grades.

Teachers continue to implement RULER, an evidence-based approach for integrating social-emotional learning into schools developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

Boys met with their Brunswick “brothers” online in early May, and those sessions will continue until the end of school. They played games like Pictionary and Twenty Questions, and first graders read books by Dr. Suess.

A webinar, “Check In! Using the Mood Meter At Home,” provided strategies for helping family members understand themselves and one another better, and for supporting the caring interactions most families hope to have.

“How are you feeling right now?” queried Joey Zanino, a member of the Counseling Services Team. “When our normal daily lives get interrupted, that is when it is important to make sure that we are monitoring our moods, and doing things to keep us regulated.”

Five Upper Schoolers also sat in on a fourth grade Values Class taught by Leslie Anderson; boys led a spirited discussion about what leadership is and what are the qualities of a leader. Upper School participants were Clayton Ostrover ’20, Logan Darrin ’20, Henry Foster ’20, Drake Miller ’20, and Jack Griffin ’20.

“The boys were amazing, and the fourth graders were excited participants,” said Anderson. “They talked about how they can show leadership skills at home — kids listed the ways they could help families during quarantine.”

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BRUNSWICK

Health&Wellness

SPRING 2020

Food Bank Deliveries Grow Four weeks in, donations to the Brunswick First Responders Food Bank have exceeded expectations, and deliveries have expanded beyond Greenwich Hospital and the town’s police and fire departments.

On May 8, Director of Community Service Johnny Montanez delivered provisions to the town’s six firehouses and GEMS — Greenwich Emergency Medical Service — and for the first time was also able to drop off needed supplies at Neighbor to Neighbor and Kids in Crisis.

The firehouse deliveries included four days worth of meals, while Kids in Crisis received about 50 packages of diapers and wipes and about 75 rolls of toilet paper.

“Collections have been going strong for four weeks,” said Montanez. “Our Brunswick community gave us more than what we asked for — creating a surplus of things others can use.”

Food bank onations are still being accepted!

Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pettengill Gymnasium, 116 Maple Avenue, Greenwich.

BREAKFA ST

EXTRAS

Shelf Stable Milk/2% Milk Shelf Stable Milk Alternatives: Cereal Soy, Almond, Rice Gluten free bread/foods Oatmeal Crackers Applesauce Nuts Coffee Granola bars Tea Popcorn kernels LUNCH/DINNER Natural sweeteners Canned fish: tuna/ 100% fruit juice sardines/salmon Herbs and spices Canned meat, vegetables, Biodegradable bags fruit in water, stew, soup Bread ESSENTIALS Peanut butter/soy butter Toiletries Rice Toilet paper Pasta Diapers Instant mashed potatoes Paper towels Cooking oil Wipes

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BRUNSWICK

Health&Wellness

SPRING 2020

Blue Mondays They Are Not Mondays are mindful for first graders at the Lower School.

Every Monday, Joey Zannino and Audrey Onsdorff, librarian and media specialist, do mindfulness activities with first graders, including guided breathing exercises and activities on love and kindness. They even had a storytime session with a book, Listening to My Body, by Gabi Garcia.

At the Middle School, meanwhile, motivation is the word on Mondays thanks to English and history teacher Denise Loeber.

Loeber offers a motivational message to Middle School boys every Monday morning — topics have included poetry, mindful breathing, and more.

Denise Loeber

Being There With more time spent at home, especially under our current circumstances, parents may worry about whether or not they are “doing enough.” Here is a title that should prove both validating and helpful.

The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, PH.D.

Connections Keep Us Moving From gym teachers to coaches to yoga instructors — community members from every corner of Brunswick have been chipping in to help keep ’Wick moving.

“It’s sort of the Brunswick way,” noted Sarah Burdett, chief integration officer.

Indeed, gym class may look a little different online, but at every level, P.E. teachers are delivering the moves and pushing out the message to stay active.

At the Middle School, gym class is live online. Led by three teachers, one who leads the class and two who watch students for form and feedback, the class is a true team effort.

“It’s live,” said Montanez. “Parents are there, working out.

Siblings join the class. We can actually have teacher-student interaction while delivering a gym class online!”

Upper Schoolers work out at home with the help of Strength & Conditioning Coach Kieran Halton, and nutrition reminders are offered regularly.

Community contributions in physical fitness include two virtual yoga classes with Gisele Kaptcianos, wife of Upper School math teacher Jonathan Kaptcianos, who offered Upper School students and faculty some exercises to loosen quarantined neck and shoulder muscles.

The truth is, there are all sorts of ways to stay active, and all sorts of fun activities are reflected in all sorts of messaging that’s going out from the entire community — from faculty bike rides to fishing trips to Field Week at the Pre, Lower, and Middle Schools.

Held the week of May 18, Field Week features a week’s worth of fun physical activities, launched at the lower levels with a virtual faculty egg relay, including a physical fitness “challenge of the day” that helps inspire the moves.

Basically, it all boils down to this: “Be active!” said Marc Strileckis, associate athletic director and head athletic trainer. “Get off the screen! Go outside!”

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BRUNSWICK

Health&Wellness

SPRING 2020

Remember to Read!

Common Sense Media continues to be a resource for families as they strive to find a balance for the increased screen time in all our lives.

Brunswick librarians, mindful that screen time may rob us of reading time, have been working from a distance to model daily reading habits and remind us to read, read, read with our children.

Brunswick has also started a “Storytime” page on the website, with titles read by both faculty and students to share with our youngest Bruins.

Time at home, and the summer months ahead, are an opportunity to foster a lifelong reading habit.

Helpful Title: How to Raise a Reader by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo (editors, The New York Times Book Review)

Sustainability Connections Earth Week unfolded online as Brunswick joined the wider Greenwich community to find ways to inspire people to tune into what’s happening in their own backyards, find art lessons in the bins that hold their recycling, and even write some poetry for the planet.

The Brunswick Environmental Science & Sustainability class, taught by Oliver Bierman-Lytle, partnered with the town of Greenwich to organize a week’s worth of activities in celebration of sustainability and the health of the planet.

Monday was art themed with many creations “upcycled” from junk drawers and recycle bins, Tuesday focused on the math of meat consumption, Wednesday was poetry, Thursday saw some Citizen Science through iNaturalist, while Friday was a celebration of trees for Arbor Day. It was the first-ever townwide Earth Week initiative, with schools and families all over town sharing their sustainability connections widely on social media.

“We were pretty excited to see the results,” said Bierman-Lytle.

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