No Diet Pepsi on the Back 9

Recently I celebrated my 51st birthday.  I am not one that puts much stock in age, and for years would say things like, age is just a number.  But this year, something clicked in my mind about turning 51. Not unlike a round of golf, I am on the back nine of my round.  Hopefully, I am just making the turn.

With my birthday and the realization of my own mortality, I took a little inventory about some of the choices that I make in my life.  I would like to think that I lead a pretty good life, and, in general, make relatively healthy choices – with one glaring exception – Diet Pepsi.  Most teachers drink absurd amounts of coffee, but I was never a fan of hot beverages, so I turned to Diet Pepsi.  Whether it is 8:00AM or 8:00PM, it did not matter – a nice cold DP was my beverage of choice.  With my birthday, I have decided that the DP has got to go.

This may seem like too personal a reveal for a blog of this nature, but it struck me that my decision to cut Diet Pepsi and the connection to my birthday, is not dissimilar from the start of a new school year.  As the students prepare for the coming school year, they too can take inventory of their academic lives.  In the opening days, I will share my decision, and will challenge them to start the year making a conscious choice to make a change in their school lives – for some it will be to avoid speaking out in class, and for others it will be to speak more.  Regardless of the choice, occasions like birthdays and specific calendar events provide opportunities for change.

Rising Together

Last week I announced my lifelong love of all things Olympic.  Throughout the last couple weeks, I have had the good fortune to watch the broadcast of many different events.  From the last minute victory of the women’s rugby team to the scores of individual stories of triumph, tragedy and everything in between, I was hooked, and my love of the modern Olympic games have only grown that much stronger.  I am already looking forward to the Los Angeles games – especially because it will include women’s lacrosse.

While watching the games this year, I was forced to watch all the advertisements and for the most part tried not to succumb to the powerful messages of ad agencies.  There was one ad, however, that really struck a chord with me.  It was for Toyota, and it starts with a runner getting set in the blocks, then a host of people come out behind the runner, indicating all the support behind that runner.  The ad goes on to repeat the same theme, with different events like judo and weightlifting.  I love the sentiment behind this ad and find it remarkable to think of all the people that are responsible for helping these incredible athletes to achieve their dreams.

I believe deeply that an individual’s will and effort can allow people to achieve extraordinary things.  But I also know, through lived experience and through a career in education – no one can do it alone.  No matter what the goal, no matter what the accomplishment, support from parents, siblings, mentors, peers, and so on are what enables it all to happen.

One of my favorite traditions at The Beech Hill School is when 8th Graders give their speech at the end of the year. For over a decade, I have had the chance to hear about all the people that have helped our graduates to successfully complete BHS.  My heart swells when I hear these stories, and wish that, like the Toyota commercial, all those individuals that helped our graduates could be on stage with them as they receive their certificates.  What a powerful sight that would be.

Just Play

I love to compete, and I love the Olympics.  Some of my earliest memories were those of Jim Craig and the Miracle on Ice, as well as Eric Heiden and his dominance in speed skating.  In fact, I loved those 1980 Winter Olympics so much that I saved that week’s Sports Illustrated.  I still have it.

Throughout my life, sports have always played a central role.  From football, to baseball, wrestling, and just about anything in between, I loved to play anything.  And as far as I was concerned, play was a synonym for compete.  Even in terms of physical fitness, I ran marathons and tried to achieve a certain time, and when I rode my Peloton – I was always very aware of the leaderboard.  Playing was competing, and that was the fun of it.

Until recently I went mountain biking at Highland Park for the first time.  I was working very hard, and I was very focused.  I was playing!  But what was really fun, what made it so enjoyable, was that I could care less what my time was, the number of calories I burned, the watts I created – I was simply riding my bike.  I felt like I was flying, cruising over jumps and skidding around corners.  I felt like I was a kid on my BMX bike – It was amazing!

Since my ride at Highland I have reconsidered the meaning of play.  It does not have to mean to compete.  In fact, my workouts have improved since the ride, because I have found a new joy in doing something that is not quantified by a clock or my Apple Watch.

At The Beech Hill School, we provide many opportunities to compete.  But as I began to reflect on “play,” I have come to realize that we also provide opportunities for our students to simply get out there and experience the joy of movement and sport.  Sometimes, it is best to “Just Play.”

Some R Work

I grew up in a working-class household, and until  I began my career as an educator, my jobs always involved some degree of manual labor.  I have paved driveways, loaded trucks on the overnight shift, and held a number of roles at different restaurants.  The common denominator in all these endeavors was that my work and effort was measured in terms of physical activity, movement, and exertion.  I took pride in the fact that I could push myself when tired and honed my work ethic.

I still benefit from these lessons, especially as the head of a school the size of The Beech Hill School.  It is not in my job description, but I have had the pleasure of cleaning bathrooms, shoveling snow, fixing leaks, and completing numerous other forms of labor.

In the last few weeks, however, I have been doing more work between my ears.  This is hard for me, as my blue collar back round would suggest, like the Dire Straits song says – “that ain’t workin’.”  Fact of the matter is that thinking, creating, and problem solving is very important work – especially as a leader.

This has made me think a lot about work that we do with our students at BHS.  While we need to continue to challenge them to physically care for the community through initiatives like our student jobs program; we also need to provide time and space for contemplation, and consideration.

I am grateful for the time that I have carved out for the more cerebral aspects of my job and anticipate that I will continue to do so as the school year begins.  Just as we try to impress upon our students that studying is, indeed, homework – planning, thinking, and deliberation is important work.

The Off-Season

This week, the Edmonton Oilers lost to Florida in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  Despite a dramatic effort to come back from a 3 games-to-none deficit, they came up short and had to go into the off-season proud of what they accomplished, knowing however, that they came up just a little short of a Stanley Cup.  In a few months, the next season will start and the chase for Lord Stanley’s Cup will begin anew.

Unlike the NHL, The Beech Hill School does not finish with a championship.  But, we do have an off-season, and what happens in that off season factors greatly to the success of the year to come.  For most of my career, I would be so frustrated by those that looked at June, July, and August, as “the three best reasons to be a teacher.”  Perhaps it was my background in sports, but I prefer to think of the summer as the off-season, and growing up, I always learned that “champions are made in the off-season.”

Today is the final day of the 2023-2024 academic year.  What an amazing year it was, and it has been a pleasure celebrating all that our students, faculty, and school accomplished as of late.  Tomorrow, we turn the page in the ledger, and I will begin the new school year by making the most of my summer.  I hope that you make the most of yours as well!

I want to close by recognizing the efforts of Liz Fortier – who makes The Update happen every week.  She has been a tremendous contributor to the BHS Community, and she will be greatly missed.  Proctor is lucky to be picking up such an enthusiastic and caring Spanish teacher!  ¡Gracias por todos y buena suerte, Señora!