BRUNSWICK SCHOOL
NOVEMBER 2013
MONTHLY MAILING How Do We Define “Strong Character?” An over-riding focus on the importance of strong character has always been a hallmark of Brunswick School. That said, I appreciate that while offering platitudes about the importance of “strong character” might sound good, platitudes, in and of themselves, don’t help our boys much. “Strong character” is a hard thing to define - I get that. You might know it when you see it, but our boys need a better definition than that. They need specifics to really understand what it is we are seeking for and from them. In my view, to really be effective, Brunswick’s definition of “strong character” must be comprehensive yet clear, realistic yet reaffirming, strong yet supportive. To that end, many of our School’s leaders spent considerable time last year and over this past summer studying, really studying, the teaching and modeling of “character and leadership,” what it means, how it might be best taught, where Brunswick does it well and where we might do it better still. We have visited and studied other schools and colleges, we have had experts in the field come to meet and present to us. The wonderfully, reaffirming news is that those with whom we have consulted are, to a person, incredibly impressed with what they found at Brunswick School. With that in mind, I want to share with you some of the most important elements of “strong character” as Brunswick defines it. Significantly, I have associated each of these 5 parts with a letter of the alphabet: H: Honesty (trustworthiness), meeting our commitments, keeping our promises, being loyal to our family, friends and our nation and doing the right thing regardless of whether it (perhaps especially when it is not) recognized. O: Ownership (accountability), fairness, playing by the rules, reflecting upon our own weaknesses before condemning the weaknesses of others. N: Neighborliness (citizenship), understanding our role as a part of a larger group and society, working with and leading others for the greater good, loving our neighbors as ourselves. O: Open-heartedness (caring), being kind, compassionate and thankful for our manifest gifts. R: Respectfulness, how we treat others, the manners and language we use, our sensitivity to the feelings of those around us, doing what we are supposed to do, doing our best and persevering. Just to make it easy….take the first letter of each element: H: Honesty, O: Ownership, N: Neighborliness, O: Open-heartedness and R: Respectfulness…..and you spell HONOR! At Brunswick School, we tie all the positive traits associated with the importance of strong character together with just three words; Courage, Honor and Truth!