bound! A Return to Middle School Science for Mr. Jedrey

Mike’s passion for science, and in particular the environment, is reflected in his outdoor pursuits, including winter backpacking and bagging 4000’ summits in the White Mountains.

Under Mike’s leadership, RHCD developed many longstanding programs, such as Enviroweek, Expositions, and LEEP (Learn, Explore, Envision, Present).

Since his arrival to Rocky Hill in 1989, Mike has worked with 6 different Heads of School, 50+ MS teachers, and 700 eighth grade students!

34 years

As teachers and educational leaders, it can be hard to know each day, week, month, and even year, if our work makes a difference for the students, families, colleagues, and communities we serve. For those of us who have long Rocky Hill Country Day stories, we’ve witnessed Michael Jedrey’s (or, as we know him, Jed’s) transformative work. We’ve felt his warmth and care, and our lives have been shaped by his mentorship. entered Rocky Hill as a fourth grader in 1987, in 1999, I was welcomed as a student teacher, in 2000, I became a faculty member, and in 2021, joined the Board of Trustees. love Rocky Hill, and top amongst a host of reasons that inspire that love is the mentorship, fellowship, and friendship of Michael Jedrey.

In the thirty years that have been Mike’s tenure, he has been a dedicated and passionate science teacher, a caring and supportive athletic coach, a strategic and mindful environmental steward, and an innovative and patient leader of the Middle School — and this list of roles only scratches the surface of Mike’s transformative and lasting impact on Rocky Hill’s students, families, faculty and staff, and community. My lifelong love of science started in Mike’s 8th Grade IPS class, my passion for science teaching was launched under Mike’s wing as a student teacher during my senior year at Brown, and my model of school leadership was formed through observing Mike’s approach in the Middle School and other aspects of Rocky Hill like the Summer Enrichment Academy, which he grew and led for many years.

My lens of seeing Mike is just one, but I know through my experience, the experience of peers and students, and the reflective conversations I’ve had with many who have been in Mike’s orbit that I am not alone. Mike Jedrey will return to full-time teaching in the fall of 2023, and the next generation of Rocky Hill middle schoolers will likely find their passion for science and learning under his skillful, dedicated, and kind tutelage.

We should all give our thanks to Mike for all he has given to Rocky Hill, to the students, families, and colleagues he’s supported and led, and to the students he is still yet to teach.

Scott Young

Class of 1996

Faculty 2000-2006

Trustee 2021-present

Mr. Jedrey

I was recently asked what teachers were the most impressionable to me and at what level of education. In lower school, upper school, and collegiately I had to do some triage and filtering, but in middle school a name came to me immediately, Michael Jedrey.

went to Rocky Hill from PreK-8th Middle school was a transformative experience, it was the place where I found my voice, my independence, and my confidence in many subjects. At the time Mike Jedrey was a science teacher, lacrosse coach, and at one point the head of Middle school. His positive energy and love of the outdoors brought about some new experiences for middle schoolers. remember kayaking the Narrow River, climbing Mt. Monadnock, wood working class (many of the projects we made in this class are still being displayed in my parents home), camping out on the beach, and so many other fun outdoor learning experiences. also enjoyed his “sludge” project where students were given a beaker of substances all mixed into one solution and we had to break them down one by one by removing each element independently using any means necessary (boiling pt, melting pt, solubility in other substances…). I thoroughly enjoyed that work.

When looking back at your most influential teachers one might think you select your favorite teacher by how well you liked them, how much they challenged you or what you learned. Mr. Jedrey checks all of those boxes, but that is not why I instantly thought of him. I thought of him because my life with my children (currently Rocky Hill students) is filled with reminders of the experiences Mr. Jedrey helped provide for us. If I scroll through the images of my family in the last ten years, there is not a year that will go by that we can’t find one picture that wasn’t something Mr. Jedrey taught us. For example, when my daughter started riding horses I chiseled a horse head out of a fallen tree on Ives Rd to give to her. Chisling was where we spent much of our time in the brick house during woodworking class with Mr. Jedrey.

My boys got Kayaks for Christmas one year and I’m pretty sure they were the same make as the Kayaks we went down Narrow River with 20 years earlier at Rocky Hill. Every summer we still Kayak in salt ponds as a family.

One year my boys got a science kit for Christmas that looked very similar to the setup we used during the sludge project, and what do you think dad had them do first...

For my boys’ 4th birthday they said “dad we want to climb a mountain for our birthday” and knew right where to take them (although we told them Mt. Wachusett’s was Mt. Monadnock at the time; they were 4, and Great Wolf Lodge was across the street- don’t judge us!). They were so proud of themselves when they reached the summit.

When the power goes out in the house and dad sets up the tent on the back deck to make lemonade out of lemons, it is Mr. Jedrey that I think of when I’m struggling to remember how to build a tent.

Cheers to Mr. Jedrey and his great tenure at Rocky Hill, I hope he is still teaching when my three get to middle school!

Brian Sardelli