On Character

Natalia Rozenholc, Lower School Parent
The first time I watched a Character Education assembly, the children were putting on a play to demonstrate that month’s virtue and one of the kids forgot his lines. The boy stammered and became flushed. All of a sudden someone in the 4th grade shouted “You can do it! You’ve got this!” and all the kids in the room (K-4) started to cheer for the boy. And he did it! This was character education in action. THIS was why we chose Hackley. United, we help one another. I don’t think there was an adult in the room with dry eyes.

David, 10th grade Student
I think something you find at Hackley is kids who are both ambitious and nice. Kids here want to do very well, but they also want everyone else to do well, too. I feel like that’s pretty unique.

Claudia Coy, Assistant to the Director of the Upper School
“What is fascinating about working at Hackley is being able to witness how each student’s unique attributes flourish. Their character comes to life in the way they express themselves, treat their peers, and express their thoughts. The form this takes -- the ways they take action and express what and who they are -- is, mostly, positive and admirable. We have great kids.”

Annika, 6th grade and Jiya, 6th grade Students
Annika: The first day that we walked into Kindergarten, everybody was nervous, but yet we were accepting, and our friendships in Lower School were about having fun together.
Jiya: Now our friendships in Middle School have grown to be so much more and are also about supporting each other, sharing experiences and cheering each other on.

Maggie, 3rd grade Student
People with character are kind, they are not mean, and they stay calm.

Sam, 8th grade Student
“Enter here to be and find a friend.” By the end of my first week at Hackley in sixth grade, not only had I made friends, but discovered that I was now part of a community consisting of friends and their families with teachers who care and activities that extend beyond school into the homes and lives of others. All around me, I see qualities in students that I admire and want to emulate.

Chris Arnold, Assistant Director of the Upper School, Teacher, Coach
Doing the right thing can be very hard, and it requires practice. I have seen how character grows and shows everywhere at Hackley. I saw my three children learn to ask for help and to offer help to others. I have listened to students discuss thorny ethical questions in an advisory activity designed by Board of Magistrates members, and have watched devastated athletes pick themselves up off the ground to get into the handshake line to look their opponent in the eye and congratulate them on a great game. I have enjoyed the spectacle of waves of students lurching out of their chairs on Class Day to applaud the accomplishment of others. I can think of a hundred other moments where, in challenging moments, Hackley kids are developing character even as they reveal it to us.

Schylar, 12th grade Student
Hackley challenges students to be the best people they can be in the world. In a world full of injustices and sins, we need more people with courage, strength, and kindness. Hackley molds its students to be courageous, strong, and kind -- people who are supportive of each other's ideas and goals. It’s a safe space for students to express their passions and ideas. Hackley equipped me to learn and understand the perspectives and ideas of others, and to be courageous enough to speak my beliefs.

Amanda LeTard, Lower School Psychologist
I see "character" come to life daily with Hackley Lower School students every day! As students work together on the playground, in group learning, at the lunch table — It is easy to see them collaborating, cooperating, showing empathy, being flexible! It is beautiful and easy to see the best in our students as they show their best selves — their true character — when they are together.

Sara Budde, Middle School Teacher, Coach
What I love most about the students I teach and coach is that they always bring their best effort -- not for their own benefit but because they never want to let their classmates and teammates down. Hackley students “put in the work”-- both in the classroom and on the athletic fields. A former coach instilled in me the value of this motto: Play with your head, play with your heart. Hackley students do everything with heart.

Krysta Dudley ‘01, Lower School Teacher
It is difficult to pinpoint a specific person or anecdote that embodies the idea of “character” at Hackley, simply because it is infused in the actions and words of every colleague, student, and parent I interact with daily, but I particularly appreciate the incredible character, grit, flexibility, and perseverance my first grade students displayed during our period of Distance Learning this spring. Their smiles, humor, mailed notes of encouragement, expressions of virtual thanks, and grace will never be forgotten.

Tony Maisonet, Middle School History Teacher
Hackley students have the gift of being able to embrace difference. I have watched them hold each other up as they headed into challenges, rather than tear each other down. It’s an indelible mark of character, one that must be perfected through practice, and cultivated each and every day.