The School Man

The School Man

I once heard from a School Man now passed on,

That there was no higher distinction. He said,

“A School Man becomes inseparably connected

To a place. Schools, and especially gender

Specific boarding schools are institutions that work

To make people whole. They take boys and

Form, craft, shape, inspire, encourage, and show them

The way to becoming full rounded complete men.

In these places where relationships are central

There are teachers and then there are School Men.

Both are important, both are needed, but there

Is a tangible noticeable difference that is clear

At first sight and remains in the vision of memory.

The School Man’s blood takes on the colors,

And so at Blue Ridge bleeds blue. He is just

As affected by the place as he is of the place.

He is a man who has cried in public, yelled,

There, too, in all of yelling’s finest forms:

Cheering, correcting, cajoling, in anger, in love,

In frustration, in excitement, and done so

All in the same day, which is pretty much each day.

Everyday the School Man laughs, too, sometimes

At the same time as the tears are falling

And the loud yelling voice is echoing through

The halls and valley and the minds of the students,

Because in working with young men, only one thing

Is essential: Passion. You have to feel things deeply.

You have to care. You have to lead with your heart

Because boys can see through anything else.

You have to be genuine: that human combination

Of stern and fun, strict and accommodating,

Distant and approachable, like a father, like

The Father. You have to love what you do,

And love the people you do it with, partners

In education, the students and your colleagues,

And by loving, I mean putting them first,

Sacrificing, without them even realizing it,

Knowing that more can be accomplished

When credit is not sought for in the equation.

You have to know a little something about

Everything, and you have to be able to do

Everything because everything has to be done

By someone, else no one would ever do it,

And nothing would then ever get done,

So the School Man steps in, and feels at home

At all things. He teaches all subjects, realizing

That all learning is essential and connected.

He coaches because sports make sense, and

Through them relationships are made deeper.

He sings because music makes life bearable.

He directs plays because in becoming someone

Else, we learn about how others are like us

And different from us. We learn from the stage

That by escaping into the world of story and song,

We can come to know more about the real world,

The mundane world, scary, threatening, and imposing

Than we ever thought possible, that statements

Made in that artistic realm pierce through walls,

And leave an impact. Much of teaching is acting,

Playing roles, performing, and the School Man

Knows he can do it all, can be the devil’s advocate,

Can give the half-time speech, can trump up

The emotion and still come across authentic

Because what never wavers is that giving heart.

A School Man is as formidable as the buildings,

As full of life as the tallest oldest oak, as inspiring

As the winds that whisk through the valley, and

As burned firmly into our minds as the view

Of the mountains, as the trees are set on fire

By the dropping temperatures of late autumn.

Little by little the color, bright as the blazing sun,

It reflects, creeps down from the heavens,

And so does the impact of lives touched radiate

Out from every young life impacted by his presence.

A School Man is one with the school, embodies

The mission, the identity, and fills the place

In our hearts, we who remember how he touched us,

As the school touched us. If the school is Alma

Mater, our nourishing mother, then the School

Man is the father, planting and cultivating life

Through his love for what he does, knowing

Always what he does it for. And so the School

Man lives forever in our hearts, in this place,

And in the world made better through his

Simple and humble, tireless efforts, one boy,

One day, one relationship at a time, all unique

And all individually crucial. You always know

A School Man when you see them, when you

Hear from people the stories of their life spent

In giving it completely." We remember one today

That we have now lost, but in our memory,

In this place, in all hearts that bleed Baron blue,

He will never not be, for there is no doubt

That Frank DeAngelis will forever be just that,

Simply put: A School Man.  

                                    ~ Rev. Peter T. Atkinson