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August 2019 Honoree – Lou Bernieri
When Lou Bernieri first took
a teaching job at Phillips
Academy Andover, in Andover, Massachusetts, he was in for an incredible culture shock. Hailing from Bensonhurst, a working-class section of Brooklyn, he had been a scholarship student at Poly Prep, in Brooklyn, and then played football at Harvard, where he had also received a scholarship. His working-class upbringing seemed a far cry from the hallowed halls of Andover.
“I didn’t even think I’d make it to year three,” he said.
But he has thrived at Andover for 42 years and counting. In addition to teaching English to precocious Andover students, the school also allowed him to develop and to nurture the Andover Bread Loaf program. The effort works with students and teachers from underserved communities and uses writing and acting as tools to engage, empowering them for leadership roles at home and throughout the country.
Bernieri’s former student, Colleen Cronin, nominated him to be honored because of hisencouragement to embrace her idiosyncrasies and allowing her to thrive intellectually during her difficult adjustment to life at Andover.
Cronin says, “There’s this quote by Frederick Douglass: ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.’ That is really what I feel is so special about Lou. I feel like he’s helping to raise strong children.”
Visit honored.org to read Lou Bernieri’s full story.