UNH CEO Forum Welcomed Greg Schneider
Berwick Academy Head of School Greg Schneider was the featured guest speaker at the first UNH CEO Forum for the 2009-2010 school year today. Greg’s presentation, “Educating Innovation,” addressed the ways in which the changing nature of our economy impacts education. His talk focused on innovation in education not just at Berwick Academy but also around the country. What are the opportunities and obstacles in this changing culture? What are the leadership challenges he and other educators are facing as they prepare students for jobs of the future? What will those jobs be ten years from now? How does education need to change? Greg commented, “The skills that our students will need to be successful are changing, and we need to consider how we can best prepare them for their future.”
Berwick Academy has embraced innovation both in and out of the classroom for several years. In 2006, the School moved to a 1-1 tablet program, requiring students from seventh grade on to have a tablet computer. The program allows students to engage in learning, thinking, and creating with technology. Most classes integrate the program with educational applications, allowing teachers to differentiate instruction, and to solidify home-school connections. The Upper School student-directed Robotics team works together to construct a new robot each year, with the goal of entering it into competition. Last year, the team earned the Event Finalist Alliance award at the FIRST Tech Challenge Regional Competition. The Middle School Rube Goldberg machine building club brings students together using a variety of tools, problem solving skills, and creative thinking to construct a complex series of simple machines to complete a given task. In recent years, the Upper School has approached the summer reading program in an innovative way by leading a theme based learning day about the required book at the start of the school year. The environment and the organic food movement have been explored through selections like Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and In Defense of Food by Daniel Pollan. The new innovative study program, also known as BIC (Berwick Innovation Center,) allows students in the Middle and Upper School to pursue independent research projects. In the coming years, Berwick Academy hopes to assist students in conducting scientific research, composing poetry, prose, and music, or any other academic pursuit through this program.
Founded in 1791, Berwick Academy is an independent, coeducational country day school located in South Berwick, Maine. For over 200 years, the Academy has pursued its mission through a purposeful blend of strong academics, arts, and athletics. Berwick serves nearly 600 students in grades K-12 from the seacoast area of southern Maine, New Hampshire, and northeastern Massachusetts.
