The Brunswick Trust

Health & Wellness continued from page 6

Anti-bullying was the theme of a Middle School assembly that saw seniors in the Upper School Connections program speak to younger boys about leadership, what brotherhood means, and how to be a force for good.

Key to the Upper Schoolers’ message was the concept of being an “Upstander” — a person who intervenes and pushes back against bullying.

“How to be a force for good is to be an ‘Upstander,’” said Leslie Anderson, coordinator of Connections.

“It was so powerful. There was rapt attention. The Upper School boys are like heroes to them.”

Upper Schoolers used the assembly to speak about their own Brunswick experiences, offer advice about coming high school years, and urge kindness above all else.

“Leadership isn’t easy,” Tomas Delgado ’23 told the boys. “People look at everything you do and depend on you to show them how to act. It takes courage to do the right thing.”

Trip Williams ’23 described the close bonds he has formed with classmates during his years at Brunswick — and how trying to seem “cool” can interfere with the valuable work of building friendships.

“We have all heard it countless times, the idea of the Brunswick brotherhood and that we are all brothers here,” he said. “While it may be cliche to say, there is a reason you hear it all the time. And that’s because it’s true.

“People will remember and care about who was kind before they remember who was cool.”

After the assembly, students broke into advisories for small group discussion led by the Upper School boys.

Aside from Williams and Delgado, seniors who spoke at the assembly included Miles Barakett, Jackson Fels, Luke Michalik, Jesse Schutzman, and Holden Fraser.

Brunswick was well represented at Hope Day, a first-ever townwide event designed to “smash the stigma” around mental illness.

Organized by Greenwich Together and held in April at Arch Street, the day featured activities, food, and entertainment — with Brunswick’s own Winston Rider, also known as Winston Mock ’23, providing a heartfelt and genuine musical set in his singer-songwriter style.

Brunswick Swim Coach Aaron Montgomery served on a panel discussion on mental health and sports, while the student-run club Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse staffed a table offering information, connection, and community to help students make healthy choices on weekends.

Brunswick has become the first-ever high school to offer Insights Discovery testing to its students. Upper School juniors took the character and personality assessment last fall — students have spent the ensuing months meeting individually with an executive coach for hour-long “debrief” sessions to go over results.

Headquartered in Scotland, Insights Discovery is a personalassessment tool that, according to the company’s website, “brings psychology to life in an accessible, practical model that shows people how understanding themselves better can make a positive difference in the workplace and beyond.” continued on page 8

After taking the assessment, boys received a report detailing their individual strengths, communication styles, and more. Melissa Shahbazian P ’30, ’32, co-founder of Spark InSight Coaching, met with all 115 junior boys for a debrief session on what was learned. Those sessions were completed in early April and were followed by four one-hour group workshops to further dive into findings.

Upper School Dean of Student Life Jon Kaptcianos noted that high school juniors stand on the cusp of young adulthood and all that comes with it — in terms of selecting colleges and interviewing with admissions reps and college coaches. That makes junior year a particularly key moment for Upper Schoolers to gather key information about themselves.