TOWN’S FACULTY AND STAFF!
Congratulations and thank you to all the faculty and staff!
Sixth grade humanities teacher David Kyle organized the effort as chair of faculty and staff annual giving. To celebrate the successful drive, Mr. Kyle directed and produced a video that captures the spirit of Town’s faculty and staff. Please click on the link below; we bet you can’t watch without a smile on your face! We hope you enjoy the video as much as we do.
We asked Mr. Kyle to tell us a little bit about Annual Giving at Town, and the process of creating the video. Take a peek at the video and then check out his answers below.
• Why do you volunteer to coordinate teacher giving each year?
I volunteer to coordinate faculty and staff giving to the annual fund every year for a few reasons. Number one, I love this school. Before I was an intern here, I was floundering around as a dot-commer, a personal trainer, a political consultant, and a fundraiser. I have always wanted to teach but never had the guts or the opportunity to get into the profession. I still remember the two wonderful and poignant days when Anne Ayers called me to offer me a spot as an intern, and Brewster offered me a spot as a Head teacher. Town finally allowed me to realize my calling.
Now, I’m happy as a clam in mud in my classroom. I’m part of a community of educators that are passionate about what we do. I’m around 12 year-olds all day who have the same sense of humor I do. The more joy I have in my classroom, the better I do at my job.
• How do you approach your role in annual giving (and maybe what your secret is to getting 100% participation)?
There are many reasons why an employee might give; it’s just finding which one is the right reason for each individual. Most of us have similar reasons, such as believing in the mission of the school, or being an alum, or just wanting to give. Also, people don’t like to be in the last 5% who have not yet given!
• What made you think of this video idea, and would you care to share any production details (we heard you did it in only a few takes)?
I usually try and get people involved in my Cross Country videos, and was trying to come up with a similar way to get as many people as possible involved. Then I thought, why not just get the whole faculty involved? I had heard about lip dubs, and then it just became a matter of finding the right song. The shoot was interesting; we did three takes in 45 minutes. In the first take, people were under-confident and didn’t know their lines or where to stand. In the second, they knew their lines and where to stand, but weren’t confident. The final take had all three elements and it was by far the best.
• Is there anything else you’d like the Town Community to know?
Yes. If you could please remind your sons that if they bring in birthday cupcakes to class, I’d be okay if they dropped one off for me. Room 20, second floor. Thanks.
