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Head of Fenn School Jerry Ward is the 2018 Ellis Lecture Guest Speaker

On Tuesday, April 3, Nashoba Brooks School hosted its annual Ellis Lecture with guest speaker Jerry Ward, Headmaster at The Fenn School. Jerry addressed School employees and recounted lessons learned during his long and distinguished career in education and two and a half decades at Fenn. His words shed light on the education of boys, the shared missions of both institutions, and the contributions of his wife Lorraine--his partner in life and at Fenn--who passed away last year.  

 

Jerry talked about the importance of teaching, the at-times “arduous” profession of shaping lives. Comparing teaching to the challenging role of parenting, he pointed out that with teaching it takes faith to know that one’s efforts are indeed making a difference even when the effects are not yet known.

Jerry also talked about the benefits of a single-sex education. “In a single sex school we get to understand in greater depth who these boys and girls are,” he said. This perspective is one he shared with his late wife Lorraine, a former class dean at Wellesley College. Single sex schools give both boys and girlsthe chance to take time out from each other.

Employees enjoyed listening to Jerry talk about the emotional complexity and distinguishing characteristics of boys: their physical energy, delight in being comrades, appetite for competition, eagerness to help in urgent situations, their quickness to move on from slight or injury, and of course, their delight in and thirst for what is fun and funny.

Forty years into his career as an educator, Jerry Ward continues to engage and inspire educators.
 
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Nashoba Brooks School is a coed Lower School from Preschool to Grade 3 and an all-girls Middle School from Grades 4 to 8 located in Concord, Massachussetts.