Loving Middle School Life the

For Stephen Blan, FWCD is a family affair. Stephen has been a member of the FWCD family since the 2016-17 academic year, first as a Middle School History Teacher, adding, in 2018, the role of being the School’s first Director of the Center for International Studies, and, in 2019, being named by then Head of Middle School John Stephens as Assistant Head of Middle School. He became the Head of Middle School in the 2021-22 academic year. In the 2019-20 academic year, Sarah Blan was hired as Upper School Librarian. Sarah and Stephen’s children are also Falcons: Evie ’27, Nate ’26 and Simon ’31. Anyone who interacts with Stephen, knows that he is a humble man who is all about relationships. He cares deeply for FWCD’s community, its students, faculty, staff and parents. Building upon last issue’s feature on Head of Upper School Peggy Wakeland, the Falconer posed questions to Stephen so the community can learn more about the person at the helm of the Middle School.

Paint a picture of you as a middle schooler …

I was the quintessential middle school nerd … a short, skinny kid with big dreams to play in the NBA. Basketball in Kentucky, where I grew up, is like football in Texas. Well, clearly, I only grew taller. The middle school years were important in my life. I enjoyed classes and my teachers. It was my entire social scene. This was pre-cell phone era, so school was central to everyone’s social life. School was a place where you forged relationships and caught up with friends. My favorite classes were math and history. Math was just easy for me and I loved numbers. There were no Honors tracks or elevated math classes, but I’m pretty sure I would have been in them had they existed. I had an innate ability to remember facts. History was always full of interesting facts – I am a trivia guy at heart. When I was in school, there was a lot of rote memorization of facts, a lot of names and dates, that I could easily recall. Remembering that information has raised my Trivial Pursuit game!

What compelled you to pursue a career in education?

During my senior year in high school, I completed a project similar to FWCD’s Capstone Project. I chose to focus on education. I planned and taught a third grade lesson about dinosaurs. At that point in time, I realized that I enjoyed being around young people.

In college at Campbellsville University (Kentucky), I majored in sociology and educational ministries. I still wasn’t convinced I’d be a teacher. I worked as an after-school program counselor at a local middle school and eventually ran the program. I took the students off campus to different places in the city to get them connected with their community and out of their element. Being in school all day long and then adding an after-school program component makes for a long day for students. These kids needed to have some fun and let off some steam. We of course, focused on homework and remedial work with the students, but middle schoolers are highly social and need to capitalize on that.

I did not have anyone in my life telling me to be considering gainful employment when I was in college. My parents did not go to college; I was the first in my family to attend a four year university. I studied what I enjoyed; I didn’t know I was supposed to be fostering a career through my studies. As a result, I very much loved what I was learning and had so much fun throughout my college experience.

It was also in college that I discovered I loved traveling to other countries and immersing myself in their cultures and traditions. My trip to Jordan was significant. I fell in love with the Middle East and decided if I ever had a chance to live there I would go for it. My travels were truly incredible and opened up the world to me. Growing up in rural Kentucky, global perspectives and travel were not part of my experience. In fact, I had never even seen the ocean until the summer after graduating high school. However, thanks to some adventurous friends in college my world view began to expand, and I found myself bitten by the travel bug.

What drew you to be involved in FWCD’s Mexico Homestay program?

I ended up getting my wish working and living abroad in Turkey for three years with Sarah. Nate was born there. I taught conversational English through small group instruction and private lessons and assisted with translation and tourism projects in the eastern part of the country. We were immersed in the culture and community.

As a result, I learned that a global perspective is not developed in one class, one trip, one experience. It takes a JK-12 commitment. There is immeasurable value in spending time with people of another culture in their homes and communities. It makes us better citizens, both globally and in our own communities. Also, the likely trend is for the global economy to continue to become more interconnected. Having the ability to communicate with and understand people different from you will be even more vital.

When FWCD launched the Center for International Studies in 2018, our goal was to develop our students’ capacity to thrive in an ever-changing global community. We do this by assisting teachers in weaving global perspectives into their curriculum and providing students with meaningful travel and hosting exchange opportunities, like this reciprocal homestay with students at Instituto CENCA. Partnering with experts and organizations is crucial for having an accurate understanding of the world and how we can make a significant positive impact.

The CENCA partnership will provide annual hosting and exchange opportunities for Upper School and Middle School students. Students from Mexico are coming here for a couple weeks in early 2023, and we will send our students to Metepec in May or June. When the CIS launched in April 2018, the School committed to do more than offer students opportunities to travel: We want to cultivate global competence in all students by weaving global perspectives into the curriculum and providing meaningful hosting opportunities.

What is great about being an administrator at FWCD?

If Hester Burdman hadn’t spent a year in Singapore, I never would have moved into the Assistant Head of Middle School position. I blame both John Stephens [former Head of Middle School] and Hester! In all seriousness, I love teaching. I love the classroom. I love the students and our interactions in the classroom. Now the interactions are a bit different, but I am still in a teaching role. I help teach kids how to navigate social situations, our core values, respect for others and so much more.

Teaching for years with John as Middle School Head showed me what is important in a leader at FWCD. I value his mentorship and the trust he placed in me as Assistant Head. I think Hester and I are a good leadership team, good partners. Hester is incredible, the kindest person I’ve ever met. Wicked smart, she works hard and genuinely embodies the School’s core values. Her “How can I help?” attitude really ensures we are truly getting things done. The faculty/staff team at FWCD is second to none. I mean, we all have to conjure our middle school selves in this job, and the result is a quirky, fun and dedicated bunch who care deeply for the students.

If I had to guess what Hester might say about me, it would most likely be, “He has too many tabs open on his computer and his desk is messy.” You have to laugh at work … with the students and with your colleagues. I’m blessed to have that.

What advice do you have for those thinking of pursuing a career in education?

Teaching is hard work. I feel that most days, the purpose and the meaning behind my work is so easy to see. Young people are just wonderful to work with. Job fulfullment in my vocation is through the roof. To me, it makes all the tough seasons, days, conversations worth it. I enjoy making a positive impact on people and families. At the end of the day, I can rest more peacefully in that. If that’s important to you, teaching is for you.

What is your educational philosophy?

Relationships are at the heart of my Middle School philosophy. Administrators and teachers must be intentional about building positive relationships with their students, and they must partner with parents for the best success. Leveraging these relationships enables us all to push students beyond their self-perceived capabilities. In addition to positive relationships, I believe providing innovative and creative teaching and programming that builds global competency in students is foundational. These positive relationships coupled with engaging and relevant classroom experiences develop students’ critical-thinking skills and prepare them for the rigors of Upper School and the challenges facing our global community.

The greatest strength of FWCD’s Middle School is its faculty and staff. For the school to move to the next level of greatness, the faculty and staff must be supported and challenged – supported in their attempts to create inclusive learning environments that push students to higher levels of thinking and challenged to continually strive to push themselves to be more creative and innovative. With this as a priority, while maintaining a playful atmosphere, the FWCD middle school will continue to be the educational leader in our community.

Parents are integral to students’ growth and learning and we must partner together, fostering a mutual assumption of goodwill through communication and positive interactions that allow the school and parents to work together toward the development of the whole child.