T O D A Y - Berwick Academy

2
Most independent
schools articulate some
notion of educating the
“whole child,” and virtually
all espouse some level of
commitment to the arts.
Having now experienced
Berwick Academy for three
years, I can say with great
confi dence that Berwick
has one of the fi nest arts
programs I have ever known
in my years as a student and
an educator. Perhaps there
Welcome
from
Head of
School
Greg
Schneider
is no greater testament to that fact than the content of
the current issue of BA Today, where you will be swept
away by a number of our graduates who have gone on
to do extraordinary work, inspired by their experiences
in Berwick’s arts program. One of the biggest reasons I
chose to come to Berwick Academy was that I believe
so deeply in the concept of a balanced education, and
the arts represent a critical area of development for
our students as we work towards our essential mission
of affording Berwick graduates with “virtue and useful
knowledge.”
Although I have always tackled my academic
work seriously and competed athletically all the way
through the collegiate level with a high degree of
passion, the arts have defined me in essential ways. I
remember with great clarity when the instruments
were paraded through my fourth grade classroom in
Needham, Massachusetts, and I was simply asked to
make a choice. For some unknown reason, I gravitated
to the intricate inlays of the golden saxophone, and to
this day you will find me in my most joyful moments
trying to craft jazz riffs over chord progressions sprung
from the genius of Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderly,
or John Coltrane. Surely there were other musical
outlets for me: a cappella singing and rock bands
involving Stratocasters, too much amplification, and
a heavy dose of Crybaby “wah-wah” pedals come to
mind. But for some reason, the power of a shout chorus
in a big band or the aesthetic of a particularly melodic
hike up a diminished scale gripped me like no other
medium.
I dabbled in the visual arts as well, admittedly
with very little success. However, during my junior
year in high school, I fell in love with the healing
rhythm of the wheel and found myself throwing pots
with relentless fervor. I will never forget when my dad
reminded me one night at dinner that as a member of
the football team at his high school, he simply could
Woofstock X - June 4, 2010
not have conceived of throwing a pot on the wheel
– practically or socially. That moment made me
acknowledge the true gift of an independent school
education, where such boundaries and self-imposed
limitations are broken with shocking and edifying
regularity.
We also know that the skills afforded by the
arts will be essential for our 21st century graduates,
and not simply for those who opt to undertake the arts
professionally. Now famous author Dan Pink reminded
us in his book A Whole New Mind why he believes “right
brainers will rule the world.” He contends that while
traditional rote skills surely remain essential, they will
not be enough in the new economy. Rote functionalities
are now being outsourced with staggering rapidity. In
fact, he believes artistic traits such as design, story, and
symphony (known to mere mortals as collaboration)
are the types of skills that will truly have value in
future. If this is true, then I have great confidence in
the education Berwick affords its students.
The fi rst moment that I knew Berwick’s art
culture was special was when I attended something
called a coffee house in the fall of 2007. I had read the
course handbooks and had a sense of what we offered,
but this Upper School coffee house was a social event
that ran for four hours in the “pit” of Fogg basement.
What I witnessed was extraordinary: most students