Jump to: Collegial Dynamics | Community Membership and Support
One of the significant strengths of EPS, and essential elements of maintaining our culture, is relationships. Joining a community is about being accepted as a member; remaining an active member is about contribution to the community. Contributions can occur in many ways across a variety of venues, including in the classroom, coaching extracurricular activities, and supporting both students and colleagues as individual people through life’s inevitable ups and downs. Contribution can also look like authentically showing up and engaging in any interaction, including meetings, class sessions, sporting events, fine and performing arts activities, clubs, and community celebrations.
My own personal philosophy and approach to being a community member is built on the importance of interpersonal relationships, high trust and respect, and a desire to maximize opportunities and experiences. For me, this work-life integration means focusing on the present experience and being fully present, which is essential in my teaching, coaching and non-professional life. This approach to work-life integration allows me more opportunities to learn from, contribute to, and experience EPS. What I do in one role, makes me better in the other roles I have.
Collegial Dynamics
As part of my PDP journey, I asked a wide array of colleagues to answer a few questions. I was fortunate to receive 21 responses from individuals across 12 different disciplines / departments. Responses are inserted in the relevant sections below. Click on each of the four puzzle images below to see what people are saying.
Develops mutually respectful and productive relationships with colleagues
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Partners consistently with colleagues on projects (i.e. integration, service learning) & engages in collegial activities hosted by the school
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| EBC (2016) | Employee Holiday Celebration (2016) | US PE Final Experience (2017) | Fall Employee Outing (2017) | Fall Employee Service Outing (2018) |
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| TALI Grand Opening (2018) | F&PA and PE integration (2019) | Testing out technology (Spring 2021) | With PE Team (June 2021) | Hallway Discussions (2022) |
Community Membership and Support
Acts as a strong and positive ambassador for EPS
Being an ambassador for EPS is about putting the school’s mission and community at the forefront of conversations and sharing what we do; how we do it; and why we constantly strive to do it better. Attending open houses, current + new family events, and admission tours are just a few of the ways I’ve consistently had the opportunity to share my experience and love for EPS. I am always happy to talk about EPS, our mission and our community!
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| Fall Harvest 2013 | Fall Harvest 2018 | Fall Harvest 2021 |
Attends school events and student performances
Attending school events and student performances is another essential aspect of building connections with students and understanding their interests. I consistently attend productions and performances of our students in Fine and Performing Arts, sports competitions for teams for which I am not the coach, coach athletic teams, have attended robotics competitions and culminating experiences for other classes. I look forward to opportunities to interact with parents at Fall Harvest and the Winter Celebration, I attend Homecoming events, Open Houses, and performances of EPS music classes.
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| Fall Music Concert (2021) | Continuation Speech (2009) | Continuation Speech (2015) | Robotics Competition (2017) | Robotics Competition (2017) |
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| Continuation Speech (2018) | TALI Grand Opening (2018) | US Winter Social (2022) | Track Meet (2022) | F&PA Showcase (Spring 2022) |
Participates visibly in the daily life of the school
My visible participation at EPS is observable in the classroom/gym, supervising open gym space during middle band, having lunch in LPC or outside, and coaching a sport during each of the three seasons. I look forward to arriving each day, attending meetings, being fully engaged in classes and to attending after-school performances/competitions/practices. I’ve been known to comment on how much I enjoy meetings and emails and look forward to both opportunities to learn information and to interact with our community.
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| Breakfast | Informal connections | Hallway conversations |
Recognizes and supports diversity in all its forms
The greatest strengths of a community come not only from the individual members, but the greater whole created by the collective group of unique personalities, experiences, and lives. This diversity creates a collaborative and cooperative team with shared experiences working towards a common goal. I’ve had the opportunity to directly, and indirectly, collaborate with colleagues – some of whom are in their first year at our school and some who have been here for many years. EBC experiences; fall overnights; service learning; and classroom integrations. are just a few of the opportunities I’ve had to build relationships with students and colleagues. These relationships set a positive tone for class interactions with students and establish a strong foundation for seeking colleagues for guidance and advice.
One of my favorite things is having the opportunity to work with someone new, especially if we have different interests or ideas. A couple of ways this comes up at EPS includes working with students in class who may feel adverse to physical activity (or what they perceive to be physical education). Working with a diverse community of learners and people of varied interests has given me many opportunities to be stretched in my capacity as an educator and my perceptions as a person to find new ways to generate opportunities for students to learn, grow, and experience life. An example is: figuring out ways to do activities in unconventional ways. When students present an idea or question; I consider how we can say “yes” and often respond with “how might we”. This led to a Quidditch unit, touch Rugby, Pitthu, Squash, Unicycling, skateboarding and Fencing. Each of these activities required adjustment based on personnel, equipment and space available.
One way we cultivate relationships to better understand and appreciate diversity (of individuals and interests) is through the opportunities we have to connect with students outside of the classroom. Sometimes, the interactions during Fall Orientations, EBC Week, clubs, and sports allow us to establish the foundations of the relationships we build with students to enhance their classroom experiences and family interactions.
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| Fall 2010 | EBC 2012 | EBC 2013 | EBC 2014 | EBC 2015 |
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| EBC 2015 | EBC 2016 | EBC 2017 | Fall 2018 | EBC 2018 |
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| EBC (2019) | EBC (2019) | EBC (2021) | EBC (2022) | EBC (2022) |
Coaching teams is another opportunity we have to build relationships with and support students outside of the classroom. I have had the chance to coach a variety of athletics activities and even robotics one year.
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| Rowing (Fall 2007) | Rowing (2009-2010) | 7/8 Basketball (2010-2011) | 5/6 Basketball (2012-2013) | 7/8 Basketball (2013-2014) |
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| 5/6 Basketball (2015-2016) | 5/6 Basketball (2015-2016) | 5/6 Basketball (2016-2017) | Rowing (Spring 2017) | 5/6 Ultimate (2017) |
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| Rowing (Fall 2017) | 5/6 Basketball (2017-2018) | 7/8 Basketball (2017-2018) | 7/8 Basketball (2017-2018) | Rowing (Spring 2018) |
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| Rowing (Fall 2018) | 5/6 Soccer (2018) | 5/6 Basketball (2018-2019) | 7/8 Basketball (2018-2019) | US Basketball (2018-2019) |
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| Rowing (Fall 2019) | Varsity Basketball (2019-2020) | Rowing (Spring 2020) | Rowing (Spring 2021) | Basketball Game Table (2022) |
Connections Over Time
Community membership and support can be ongoing. While we begin to build relationships from the moment students and families inquire about EPS or visit our campus, the development is ongoing and often sustained beyond their educational career at EPS. Most recently, a former student visited and shared he is about to start his career as a teacher of Physical Education saying “So basically, I’m just becoming Ms. Hayes which is awesome!”
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| Advisory (2007) | Service Day (2010) | MS Basketball (2010-2011) | (2011) | Graduation (2022) |
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| Basketball (2014-2015) | Lacrosse celebration (2019) | With Hayes family (2022) |
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| PE (Winter 2013-2014) | EPS Rowing Team (Fall 2014) | Continuation Speech (2015) | US PE Class Experience (2018) | Graduation (2019) |
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| PE Class (2013) | Continuation Speech (2009) | Alumni visit (2022) |
Every interaction is an opportunity. We may affect others positively or negatively, rarely is it indifferent. As Winston Churchill said “we make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give”.