BrewsterConnections(PDF) - Brewster Academy

Susan Nichols, Bobcat Since 1987
Secretary to the Head of School
I remember my first day as the Headmaster’s secretary. It was the middle of
September and classes had begun only about a week earlier. My desk sat pretty
much in the same location as it does today, but the office itself has gone through
many physical changes since. At this time, the Business Office was located
across from the Headmaster’s Office and there was always a lot of activity
with students and faculty coming and going. The floors in the hallway were not
carpeted, but were beautiful old wooden floors that creaked and groaned when
walked on so the noise level was something when classes changed, but I could
always tell when someone was coming. The mailroom was closed on Saturdays
so all the mail came in to the main office, and we sorted piles for students to
pick up.
Of course, being new it all felt a little
overwhelming the first few days, but everyone
was extremely nice, helpful, and patient while
I got familiar with my new job. I was used to
working in a school environment having just
moved from Connecticut with my husband
where I had worked in the Business Office of a
private day school for eight years. What I wasn’t
used to was the fact that at a boarding school
there are classes on Saturdays and no “snow
days” in the winter, but I also felt a greater sense
of community and family.
The changes and improvements over the years, especially in technology, have
greatly influenced my job. The first few years I worked at Brewster the secretaries
only had typewriters with a two-page memory capacity. If we were typing
anything longer than two pages, we had to make sure work was corrected and
revised before moving on to additional
pages. Everything was typed on carbon
copies, and I always had a dictionary and
bottle of whiteout handy for spell check
and corrections. The secretaries would have
to carry their typewriters to “Rip and Tear,”
which was the term used for grade report
night when the faculty would gather in
the old Kenison Library and faculty would seek out someone on a typewriter to
make any corrections before sending reports to parents. Today’s computers and
the portal have come a long way in making the offices more efficient and saving
our backs!
There have been many physical changes on campus as well. Before the third
floor of the Academic Building was renovated for the first year of the Brewster
Model, pigeons would fall through the old air ducts that ran through the walls. I’d
hear their cooing, open the grate, and release the pigeon out the side door. We
frequently had bats come to visit from the third floor as well but would call the
maintenance department to come with their net to catch these!
Pigeons would fall through the old air ducts
that ran through the walls. I’d hear their
cooing, open the grate, and release
the pigeon out the side door.
When I first arrived at Brewster, the Development and Alumni
Office was located in a small building that had been the former
boathouse, which had been moved up from the lake and placed where the visitor
parking lot is now. It also housed the journalism studio on the second floor. The
building was eventually relocated to where it sits today as the Arts Building.
The completion of the Pinckney Boathouse, moving Chamberlin House across
campus, and the construction of both the
Wilson Center and the Smith Center are
just a few of the many additions I have seen
over the past 25 years.
I am grateful for all the opportunities I have
to work with and get to know so many
wonderful people here at Brewster. I’m now
in my second year of being a co-community life parent at Spencer House, which
offers an even greater opportunity for getting to know the students and being a
part of the Brewster family.
My children and I are forever grateful for being part of this extraordinary
community.
25 Years by the Numbers:
125,000 phone calls answered
25,000 meetings scheduled
100 trustee meeting preparations
www.brewsteracademy.org
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