Innovating our Rites of Passage

In the spring of 2020, by necessity, Division Heads needed “to make changes in [some] events established,” long-established in fact, at Brimmer and May, that celebrate rites of passage for our students, young and old. There were recorded speeches and a drive-through graduation processional in place of a live theater event full of faculty, family, and friends for the Class of 2020. There was a Zoom Grade 5 Commencement Celebration as well as a Zoom Grade 8 “Dinner” (with good food for thought to share but not food to be eaten). We Zoomed Honors Convocation but though much thought and effort were applied we were unable to find viable solutions for the Prom and Homecoming. It was the first surge of the pandemic, and the Division Heads and Head of School sought safety and good health for our community and innovated otherwise as best they could and succeeded by making changes to something established: lawn signs, food deliveries, special gifts, and the scheduling of many events. 
 
The Academy Awards were Zoomed; the Sports Awards Assembly was Zoomed; the Lower School Closing Ceremony Zoomed as well. Our administrators, faculty, and staff worked to find ways to “innovate” these time-honored, important events and rites of passage. Fortunately, my Brimmer and May colleagues are well-practiced at innovation. They pursue it all the time in the classroom, on the athletic courts and fields, and in extracurricular activities as they seek to improve their practice and the School’s programs for our students. Faculty, staff, and administrators pilot programs and projects, tweak curriculum or make wholesale changes, introduce new practices, and even shift paradigms as they seek to meet the needs of our students and provide them with the best education they can.
 
Yet, they do this not only to meet the needs of our students but because they see improvement in all domains as an important part of their practice. They strive to bring the School’s motto to life every day: “De mieux, en mieux” (better and better). This motto, like our rites of passage for our students, is cherished and meaningful. I am excited to see how my colleagues bring it to life once again this spring with a new round of innovations in service to our students and to the School motto and our valued traditions. We all need to get ready for another innovative spring at Brimmer and May.