Q&A with Ray Wilson, Head of School

We are excited and honored to welcome Ray Wilson as our new Head of School, beginning July 1, 2021. Ray brings 28 years of teaching, coaching, and leadership experience in independent schools. As a progressive educator, he believes in the primacy of academics and the value of experiential learning that is relevant to student’s lives.

Ray’s impressive breadth of experience in education includes his tenures as history teacher, Middle School & Upper School Director, Director of College Counseling, Director of Athletics, Assistant Dean of Students, international boarding/dorm parent, domestic and international admissions panels, Finance Committee, campus master planning, and new building campaigns and construction.

Beyond the campus, Ray is on the Steering Committee of the Pacific Northwest chapter of People of Color in Independent Schools. He has spearheaded diversity workshops on curriculum development, student support, and building inclusive school culture.

Northwest School Magazine Editor Margie Combs recently sat down with Ray, on Zoom, for a conversation about teaching, mentoring, and building school community.

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Start with your teaching. You have been both a math and history teacher, which is an unusual pairing of interests.

I first started teaching math and science to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, then taught math and history in high school. About two years into my high school tenure, the head of school said I had to chose one or the other. I’m a sociology major—I love math but that’s not my major. I came back and said I’m going to go down the history path. The reason why is because with math the answers are always the same—there may be multiple ways to get there but the result will be the same. With history, things can change depending on the current climate and there is always the opportunity to compare and contrast today with yesterday. My background in sociology gave me a lens through which to view history and to teach history. I’ve always felt energized by that.

How have you applied your sociology background in the classroom?

I can help students develop a sociological lens, which in turn will help them view any history or literature through that lens. I lay that over the courses I’ve developed over the years, the most recent being The Sociology of Malcolm X and The Japanese-American Experience during WWII. I’ve refined them to fit the current day climate. I give students a two-week crash course in sociology at the beginning of the term, and then we jump right into the text.

I feel it is important to give students a sociological framework first because that serves to protect their emotional base. We’re able to have generative questions based on the reading and to identify patterns of behavior, patterns of thought, and systems or structures that are in place to sustain those patterns.

In my class on Malcolm X, I ask my students to take notes in three columns: Column 1) Write notes on the Autobiography of Malcolm X by using sociological perspectives taught in class; Column 2) Identify examples from the reading that make you think about your current school experience; Column 3) Identify connections from the reading that make you think about your life outside the school.

So, my students have three entry points by which they are able to synthesize and develop their own analysis, and this serves to connect them emotionally to the work. I feel like I got the most out of my students once we were established as a micro-community within that classroom. Am I a historian? No. I tell the kids I am not a history buff; I don’t commit dates to memory, but if you ask me what the impact was of certain events on different groups in society, we can talk about that. It’s a different way of exploring history.

Given the current climate of racial tension in the country, how do you create a safe space for open discussion in your classroom?

My classes have been a fifty-fifty split between white students and students of color, and there has never been a student in my classes who felt defensive or angry. I know I am successful in creating a safe classroom when the white students in the class are able to say “white,” as in “a white person in the book said this or that.” When we are able to talk in racial terms openly, that is when I know everyone feels safe to express themselves—that’s the goal. In my other course, the Japanese American Experience during WWII, I approach it in the same way: a crash course in sociology at the beginning and then we talk about the experiences of generations of Japanese-Americans in the United States. We are able to think about the conditions that led to systemic acts of discrimination as a way to interrupt those conditions in the current day. Students are able to recognize patterns of behavior or structures that can, if left alone, potentially cause a repeat of historical traumas.

You identify yourself as having a collaborative leadership approach. What does that mean and look like in your work as a teacher, coach, and administrator?

I’ll answer this from two angles: The first is an intellectual angle. There is a book, The Anatomy of Peace, which was given to me in about 2009. That text has opened my eyes to understanding the origins of conflict and has helped me to get out in front of it, to be proactive in either mitigating or interrupting signs that can lead to conflict. It is important to be surrounded by people who have read it as well, so I will be asking members of The Northwest School administrative team to read this text. We must have a shared working framework around how we will be with one another as we navigate this upcoming transition. The second is a text called Spark. The book goes behind the scenes of the Cirque de Soleil and chronicles what goes into putting on a performance—as an audience, we have no idea. There are many lessons to be learned from it regarding teamwork. This is a text that every member of the faculty will read over the summer. By exploring the role that we each play in ensuring a positive experience for students and colleagues, we can develop a shared purpose and goals that will guide our work.

The second angle is my lived experiences. First off, I assume best intentions. Because I start with that premise, it helps me to receive someone’s concerns or even complaint without getting my ego bruised—I don’t lead with an ego in that way. It helps me to remain in a team mindset.

Speaking of team mindset, you’ve coached basketball for many years. Has that informed your collaborative approach?

As a longtime athlete, I know that being coachable is important and so is being an effective coach. I often will inquire about what goals or objectives an individual might have, what are their strengths, what areas they can focus on, and then engage in a conversation about how I can be supportive and help them rise to the level they see for themselves. On the court you have five players with different responsibilities but they all have the goal and charge to blend their responsibilities to score a basket. I’m able to see one person’s role and another person’s role in an organization and how they can complement one another in order to achieve a particular outcome. I think of it as an interactive Venn Diagram: we all have different attributes and skill sets but that common piece in the middle is where we all should be sitting right now.

Another aspect of my approach is that I don’t get rattled. You won’t see that in me at all and it comes from coaching. I’ve been through many games, nail biters, you name it, and I never sit down when I’m coaching— I want to feel the energy. I live vicariously through the people I am working with. It’s another layer of focus and excitement that I bring to my work, but in a healthy way.

As a teacher and coach, you’ve mentored many students. Are there mentors who have played important roles in your life and career?

I’ve had mentors of all different backgrounds— that is of foremost importance to me. Each person has served a different role in that mentoring journey. Two mentors made a difference for me at pivotal moments in my career. They said, “Ray, have you given a thought to something outside of what you’re doing now?” They prompted me to reimagine myself in a broader way and that, to me, was very impactful. They saw something in me I hadn’t even thought about. I try to replicate that as much as possible as I teach and coach.

01 Ray, conducting a recorded

interview with Cofounders

Mark Terry and Ellen Taussig for the annual fundraiser for financial aid.

02 Ray welcomes prospective

families to the school’s virtual tour of the campus posted on the website, 2021.

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You’re a person of color who has been mentored for the past eight years by a person of color. Has that played a significant part in your development as a leader?

The important role that a person of color has played for me is more as an example than as a direct advisor of what to do or not to do. Currently, at Bush, the head of school is a person of color and seeing over the last six or seven years how he has navigated the role of head of school has provided lessons and takeaways for me. The most important point of that is to be authentic, genuine, and true to who I am as a person and be in position to convey that message to others. When I am in conversations with people of color who are aspiring to leadership, I talk with them about the importance of being as authentically present as possible in their daily walk, while also understanding there may be challenges along the way based on their various layers of identity. Being in tune with multiple layers of identity and then recognizing systems and structures that are in place that can serve to either perpetuate or create feelings of being marginalized will help in espousing and behaving in a proactive manner. A huge part of what I have learned throughout my career is to be grounded in just living, learning, observing, and reflecting along the way.

How are you anticipating stepping into this new role as Head of School at Northwest? What excites you and what do you see as a possible challenge?

Northwest is one hundred percent in alignment with my personal views about education: the school’s broad range approach to Humanities is a direct match for me; the school’s commitment to social justice work is of great importance to me; the emphasis on the environment, all the ways in which Northwest situates itself within the educational arena here in Seattle are important to me. I feel I can bring my complete self to the campus each day. I often give this analogy: Imagine you are listening to music in the car. When you pull up to the metaphorical gate of the school, do you feel you must turn down your music or can you leave it playing? I believe I can keep my music playing as I move onto campus at Northwest. The other is knowing that everyone who is working at the school and the families who have chosen the school for their kids, all have a common starting point and belief that the school is positioned to help everyone thrive in ways that are important to them. If I were to name a challenge, it would be to help everyone to feel settled into this next chapter of the school’s journey. It’s a challenge, but one I am looking forward to. Going back to the belief that everyone is here because they want to be here, and because everyone wants to be here, let’s make our experience as positive as we can, knowing that there will be challenges along the way. It takes me back to The Anatomy of Peace—it will be an important framework to have when we reach those challenging moments.