ELEVATING TEAMWORK

A letter from Judith Guild

In this edition of Brimmer Magazine, you will read how our educators elevate teamwork and weave it into our practice and culture. Our students learn how important it is to work together and how the interconnectedness between roles and responsibilities permeates life and its careers.

Putting together a team is a skill that our faculty employs with clear intent. Members of a team may purposefully include a mix of introverts, extroverts, supporters, and leaders. Working together requires our students to have a collaborative mindset, and different types of thinkers are key to finding effective solutions to complex problems. Our administrators attributed the overall success of sustaining in-person learning during the pandemic to having a collaborative mindset, and our students understood the powerful outcome of effective teaming as they watched their faculty manage each day.

In this edition, you will also read how the power of effective teams is limitless. The Brimmer academic, athletic, and arts programs reflect this value. You will learn how our Middle and Upper School geometry classes team up with design classes for semester-long collaborations that yield extraordinary results. You will learn how our fifth graders team up with faculty advisors who support and empower them throughout their Capstone Exhibitions. You will witness the teamwork that has fueled Brimmer Cross Country to eight championship wins in the past nine years. You will go behind the scenes of our Creative Arts department and meet the Production Team that supports our student performers and helps them excel.

Brimmer’s mission promotes a studentcentered environment that empowers students to be engaged in their learning. Working in teams facilitates this goal and allows students to work actively towards a common purpose. As we experience disruptions to society’s norms—whether it is the latest artificial intelligence platform, a worldwide pandemic, or political conflicts that threaten our future—learning to be part of a successful team propels our students’ learning and helps us flourish. As you read the enclosed articles, I hope you will understand better how Brimmer’s faculty are preparing our students to be engaged citizens and leaders in our interconnected world. ■

Middle School Math Teacher Andrew Beal works with an 8th grade student.

Lower School Buddies enjoy the Apple Picking trip in the fall.

Upper School students enjoy the return of Winterim.