New Year, New Possibilities

HEADLINES: A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL, ROD FLETCHER

 

A new year gives us the opportunity to not only reflect on our past, but also dream about our future. At the dawn of a new decade, this opportunity can become a defining moment.

 

Ten years ago, our three boys were at the Lower School. We ate dinner around our table and tucked them in bed every night. Now, one is engaged to be married and starting his career, another is in college, and my youngest is in his junior year at Brook Hill.

For Heather and me, this decade will look very different from the last. While I am nostalgic about the past and wish I could go back to do it all over again, I am also excited for the next 10 years.

Our sons are confident in who they are and their place in the world. They have integrity and know what it means to be a true friend. They’ve learned through disappointment and failure, but they’ve also experienced the joy of accomplishing their goals. More than any of that, our sons have learned that the real meaning in life is to love God and love others.

I believe a large part of who they are today is due to the Brook Hill family. Their teachers, coaches, and friends helped them see the world in a different light and become men of Christ-like character.

The people at Brook Hill are what make it such a special place. It is through their relationships that our students and families experience the mission of our school and are called to excellence. In a very real way, these great people have changed the trajectory of our lives.

This next decade at Brook Hill also holds great promise because of the vision of great people.

The Brook Hill family had a vision for a space for our students, families, and faculty to build stronger relationships. They imagined our first building, the cabin, could become a coffee house.

That vision grew into The Guard Shop and our new business lab, paving the way for The Brook Hill School of Business where students can gain the skills they need to accomplish their dreams in the real world.

The people of Brook Hill wanted to honor those who have given their lives protecting our freedom and had a vision for a memorial that would pay tribute to their sacrifice. The American Freedom Museum Memorial will be completed this year and will be a place for healing, remembrance, and inspiration.

The students and coaches of Brook Hill have left the enduring legacy of a championship baseball team. After not being able to play on our own field, the Brook Hill family wanted to preserve that legacy with a new, state-of-the-art turf field so that our team could play at home once again.

Our people also had a vision for a training field attached to our weight room that would allow our student-athletes to seamlessly transition between exercises, helping them train their bodies and push their limits. Construction will begin in just a few weeks.

Our Brook Hill family wanted to engage students in new ways of learning that would stretch their creativity and teach them how to collaborate together, enabling us to re-imagine our library and student center. Today we have a new innovation center, media center, and idea lab, giving us clubs and classes for robotics, 3-D printing, fabrication, and so much more. This vision is now expanding to our lower school where an innovation space will soon be available for our PK-5th grade students.

It’s not just the big things – it’s the small, everyday moments that change us. The teacher who comforts a hurting child. The conversation that helps you see life from a different perspective. The encouraging word when you’re having a bad day. The first time you perform on stage or score the winning point.

At the center of all of these moments is a person. Someone who loves your child and points them to Christ. The same great people that have shaped the lives of my own sons and the lives of so many.

 

Our founder, Stephen Dement, has always said that Brook Hill is like a symphony. God brings the right person, at the right time, to play the right part. That has certainly been true over the past decade, and I am excited to see how God continues using people to change our community for the better in the years to come. Who knows, maybe it will be you!