Cindy beams
Personae | People of Note
Fred during a boma visit in Kenya, part of the global education effort he began at Groton
More recently, motivated by his own work as a Peace Corp volunteer and Outward Bound instructor, Fred, along with his wife, Cindy, saw a need for Groton students to engage in more intensive service experiences, decided that they wanted to start taking students to the high Andes, and asked Craig to join them in what proved to be the first of many Beams-led Groton trips—all of them epic because Fred and Cindy knew what they wanted and pushed hard to make these experiences a reality for our community. Fred and Cindy have since led nine service intensives to Peru, Tanzania, and Kenya, involving more than 150 students and faculty members. These experiences were and are so effective because Fred and Cindy worked from their unspoken strengths. Fred literally works harder on the service projects than any 17-year-old we’ve had in our midst. He can mix and haul cement for hours on end in the blazing heat and still have a light touch with a student who might be feeling overwhelmed or homesick or just plain sick. Meanwhile, Cindy scans the area for meaningful relationships and draws others into the web of connections she weaves. As a result, our work—knowing and helping and building a single community out of two disparate ones—has happened around the globe. Fred and Cindy have helped expand students’ and faculty’s Groton experience beyond the Circle; they have also, not surprisingly, enlarged the very notion of our Circle, as they have connected the Groton community to other communities around the world, feeding all with friendship, kindness, and fun. Since that first impromptu meal in summer 1994, we’ve been so fortunate to share meals with Fred and Cindy—in the Dining Hall, at their kitchen table, and in odd locations around the world. They welcomed us and so many others into their world, one characterized by an optimism, a sense that our work together matters, and a relentless enthusiasm as large as Fred’s eyebrows are long. We will miss them deeply. —Nancy Hughes and Craig Gemmell * * *
Advice, with a side of eggs
M
ost Groton students dreaded waking up for classes on Saturday mornings, but for me, it was probably my favorite time of the week. Every Saturday, Mr. and Mrs. Beams would take several advisees out to breakfast at Tiny’s. Over our eggs, we would talk about anything from the afternoon’s hockey game to upcoming national elections. Looking back on these meals, I realize how lucky I was, and more importantly, how lucky generations of Groton students were, to have known the Beamses as teachers, coaches, advisors, mentors, and friends. As special as those breakfasts were to me, whenever I would swing by his office, pop into his classroom, or come knocking on his door, Mr. Beams was having those same conversations with someone else. He knew each student’s name, but more importantly, he cared enough about each student to delve deeper—he knew who had an outstanding game in girls JV field hockey, who was struggling in chemistry, and who was directing that semester’s play. Mr. Beams not only always had his finger on the School’s pulse, but he also always knew exactly what the students needed. Whether it was planning Surprise Holiday, organizing a dorm feed, suspending extended curfew, or motivating a team to a big sports win, as Groton’s pendulum would swing back and forth, Mr. Beams was the one who made sure it never strayed too far from center. Although unwavering in his inherent sense of right and wrong, Mr. Beams was a champion of change and progress, constantly striving to make Groton as dynamic, relevant, and impactful as possible. As the saying goes, behind every great man is a great woman. Mrs. Beams, through her programs around the world, took Groton’s mission and applied it on a global scale. Her Fred beam
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Cindy with the chief of the Orkeeswa community in Tanzania
18 | Quarterly Spring 2013