News

Teaching is about Relationships

Last Saturday, we celebrated this school’s 30th year with a wonderful celebration at the Museum of Fine Arts. Early in the program, we all watched a video featuring teachers past and present, parents, alumni, and others talking about their BUA journeys. Every time a teacher appeared on the screen, the audience spontaneously erupted in applause and cheers. While those of us who planned the event did not anticipate that response, we were not surprised either.

Teaching is about relationships. Over the past few weeks, I’ve visited about a dozen classes. Styles and content varied. But what was consistent was a deep, palpable trust between teachers and students. Teachers joked, praised, challenged, and cajoled – all with the clear subtext that they loved these young people. Students, feeling secure in that love, spoke up, tried new approaches, took risks, laughed, struggled, and demonstrated the vulnerability it takes to learn and grow. 

We know that kids learn from people they trust – that emotional safety and connection open the door to learning. Michael Reichert and Joseph Nelson, whom I had the pleasure of collaborating with on several projects years ago, offered an evidence-backed overview of this idea in the context of boys’ education. David Brooks wrote a powerful, personal version of this story in an opinion piece. And, for anybody looking for a pick me up, I suggest this TED talk by Rita Pierson. In the end, though, all we need is to think about our own experiences – about a teacher who took the time to get to know us and saw something in us that perhaps we didn’t even see in ourselves. Those people changed our lives. And we are blessed to have a school full of them here at BUA.

“Look What I Started!”

I recently attended BUA’s first-ever Shark Tank-style business plan competition. Our students pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to a panel of judges – everything from sustainably sourced protein powders to an organizational app for students to keep track of homework and other assignments. There were quite a few pitches, and the room was filled with student spectators cheering them on. A few weeks earlier, I attended BUA’s first-ever hackathon: Hack@BUA. BUA students organized and ran a competition for dozens of middle and high school students across the Boston area challenging them to come up with a technological solution to a pressing societal challenge.

BUA students dreamed up these events. With the support of the adults in the community, the students planned and executed them. And, in both cases, they are already thinking about what these events will look like next year. They will be part of these students’ legacies hopefully long after they graduate.

We know that having a sense of purpose plays a central role in happiness and fulfillment, and that purpose comes from engaging in something that is both personally meaningful and meaningful to others. Through these types of experiences, these students got a taste of just that. If that taste turns into a lifelong habit, that will be a boon not just to these students, but to all of us.

Listening to Students

I just finished up lunch with a 9/10th-grade advisory group. Over pizza, the nine students told me about what their day-to-day is like; what they love about BUA; what’s hard; and what they wish was different. A few pieces were news to me. Most were things I had heard about before, and the conversation gave me a chance to tell them about exciting new things that are already in the works and for us to brainstorm about how, working together, we can make BUA better. I’ll meet with all 9/10 advisories this spring and will set up open sessions for juniors and seniors as well – like I do every year. 

We are a better school for giving students a chance to tell us about their lived experiences; they are, after all, the experts! And we are better when we give them agency – the permission and power to make change by working in partnership with the adults in the community. This year, one of our seniors led a senior-experience working group made up of students, faculty, and staff; the group was charged with suggesting ways to enhance the 12th-grade year. Our standing DEIB committee is a collaboration between BUA adults and students; the topic at yesterday’s DEIB meeting was how we recognize, commemorate, and celebrate different traditions and cultural heritages at BUA throughout the year and what specific initiatives we can put in place for next year. Our Student Council is perhaps the most important and visible force for student-led change at BUA – sponsoring events, recommending policy changes, and generally advocating ways to improve this school they love so much. And the list goes on. We talk a great deal about how capable, passionate, and thoughtful our students are. What a shame it would be if we did not hear what’s on their minds and work alongside them to make BUA better.

Finding Your Passion and Changing Your Mind

This week, our seniors presented the results of their senior thesis projects to classmates, friends, family, teachers, and mentors. The breadth of topics was as stunning as the depth of the exploration. I heard about correlations between green spaces in Boston, race, and socioeconomics; irreducible polynomials over finite fields; depictions of witches in literature from Medea to the present; Beethoven’s Tempest Sonata; stem cells and transplantable heart tissue; quality of life outcomes in adolescent female dancers; and the impact of certain pollutants on coral native to New England. My only regret is that I could not attend more!

I love that the BUA academic experience culminates with students identifying areas of passion and diving deep; they find agency and purpose in applying what they have learned. And for some of them, the topic they explore will spark something bigger: a college major, a dissertation topic; a career. I worry, though, that students at this age might think that they are somehow “stuck” with the passion they identify at 17 or 18 years-old and feel pressure to choose a path for the rest of their lives. Nothing is further from the truth. I have talked to dozens of graduates who, in their early 30s are already in their second careers. I am on my third – happily so! The freedom to switch gears in a career is one of the greatest gifts of an education like the one students receive at BUA – a freedom that many people do not have. Some of the happiest people I know found something interesting and meaningful to do early in their careers. They gave it their full energy. Then, when the time was right, they took a chance by stepping off the track to try something new. An education like this means that doors are seldom truly closed and new one are within reach.

The Things Teachers Say

Long-time history teacher Dr. Jim Davis gave a masterclass last night to a group of parents and alums exploring existentialism, which is also the topic of a popular senior elective he has taught for many years. As he discussed Søren Kirkegaard and Frantz Fanon, BUA graduates who took the class years ago started to engage in the online chat. Then the questions started, then an open-ended discussion. An hour-long class stretched to 90 minutes – in good BUA fashion. Several alums told Dr. Davis that their time with him in this class years ago – the readings, the discussions, the questioning – had not just stayed with them but shaped who they are and how they think about the world. Some talked about how the class helps them think about our nation’s political challenges. Others talked about how those discussions have helped them work through personal challenges. 

In a 1907 autobiographical work, Henry Adams famously wrote, “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” Dr. Davis’s masterclass was a powerful reminder of the power of a loving, inspiring teacher.

A Community That Helps You Be Yourself

Over a span of five days, our community hosted two wonderful events. One was our Be Together multicultural potluck dinner. Families of students from all grades gathered together, each bringing a dish reflecting their family’s identity and traditions. Several students also performed that night in the same spirit – from Indian classical dance to Greek zeibekiko. A few days later, we hosted our annual Classics Declamations, where a dozen students recited – in a spirited way! – passages in Greek or Latin in front of the whole school. 

In both instances, the response from the audience to the student performances was beautiful: riotous applause and loving hollering followed by pats on the back and warm hugs. Teenagers are often encouraged to “be themselves.” That does not – and cannot – happen in a vacuum. I take great pride in this being a community where, when young people take risks, try something new, and make themselves vulnerable, they are greeted with acceptance, love, and admiration. That is fertile soil for healthy development. And it is what all kids deserve.

Trying Something New

I popped by a volleyball practice in the gym earlier this week. Picture two nets set up across the gym, with two dozen players on the courts and about a dozen more on the sidelines waiting to rotate in. There were spirited celebrations for points won, along with quick support for a teammate’s mistake. Intensity mixed with joy under the careful oversight of Mr. Seth – math teacher by day, volleyball coach by afternoon!

Here’s what’s most interesting to me: the majority of the players had never played volleyball in any organized way before coming to BUA. I love that these students feel the freedom and comfort to try something brand new. They are willing to take a chance, show vulnerability, admit that they have room to grow, and risk making mistakes in front of their peers. That is an extraordinary thing at any age, but particularly in adolescence. It reminds me of Carol Dweck’s important research, encapsulated in her book Mindset, revealing that people who see key traits as malleable (growth mindset) vs set (fixed mindset) are in fact significantly more likely to improve and perform better across a range of challenges. I am grateful to be in a community that allows young people to feel comfortable taking risks and trying new things, and hope that the same spirit stays with them, not just through high school but for the rest of their lives.

Students Finding Purpose through Action

What does it take to convince Town Hall to start a bike-to-school day?

On Tuesday, one of our seniors gave a talk at our all-school meeting about his year-long quest to make change in his town. Motivated by his passion for combating climate change and inspired by models from other countries, he began reaching out to local nonprofits, members of town government, and local school officials. Some doors opened. Many stayed closed. He kept at it, building allies, following leads, and refining his pitch. He experienced the sometimes frustratingly byzantine nature of local politics and the excitement of discovering allies in that system. He is now on the precipice of seeing his dream of a bike-to-school day in his town come to life and perhaps inaugurating a tradition.

Last year, our faculty and staff read William Damon’s The Path to Purpose. Damon, in a deeply evidence-based way, argues that fulfillment and happiness in life are deeply linked to purpose, even – or perhaps especially – for young people.  Purpose goes beyond “following your passion.” People find purpose when they devote themselves to something bigger than themselves and something that has a positive impact on others. In sharing his story at assembly, this student provided a model of how – even as a high schooler – our students can find fulfillment and meaning through action. Purpose can come from painting a powerful mural that tens of thousands of people see each day and from being kind to a friend who is struggling. It can come from doing published research in a cancer lab and from starting a club with your friends. One of the greatest gifts we can give our students is the chance to find purpose while they are here, in hopes that that experience will build lifelong habits that will sustain them on their journeys. And our world will be better for it.