Lucia Mulder
"Teaching a course full of classmates who are genuinely interested in what is being taught is super rewarding,” shared Nhu Nguyen '19 who taught a class on Vietnamese cooking with Luke Nguyen '21.
Pro Vita Winter Session kicked off on February 24 in traditional fashion with A Cappella Palooza, and didn’t let up until the last plane returning from one of the five excursions touched down a week later. Now in its twelfth year, Pro Vita is still going strong, featuring evening events, speakers, and performances, and over 50 on-campus courses that each fall under one or more of Pro Vita's themes: sustainability, sense of place, philanthropy, diversity, and for life experiences.
This year, more students than ever embraced the role of teacher to share a passion with their peers. In topics that ranged from baking to bike skills to the Beatles, 20 students lent their expertise to teach a class. (Students also led four of the five Pro Vita excursions this year. Read more about them here, and check out our Pro Vita Instagram for trip photos and updates from around the world and on campus.)
"What I have enjoyed the most about teaching a Pro Vita class is that it gave me a sense of self confidence,” said Devon Thompson '19, who led Mastering French Pastries: Patisserie Baking 101 with Dr. Perot.
The Power of Giving class, taught by Lionel Shaw '85 (far left), heard a pitch from Kathy Orlando '89 (4th from left), who represents the Sheffield Land Trust.
“Probably the best part of teaching is when one of my ‘students’ says they had fun and are already excited for the next class,” Thompson continued. “Now I understand how teaching could be so rewarding.”
In addition to student teachers and our own faculty, Berkshire also welcomes alumni, parents, staff, and other friends to share their skills and interests. One of the program’s great ancillary benefits is how it brings people together, both within the extended Berkshire community and beyond it.
In the Power of Giving, a class led by Lionel Shaw ’85, students had the incredible opportunity to connect with nonprofit organizations in the local area to learn about their missions, programs, and purpose through field trips and on-campus presentations. Thanks to financial backing from Shaw’s EACH Foundation, a self-funded, donor-advised fund, they also had the opportunity to make grants to those which they felt passionate about.
“The EACH Foundation has been a good launching pad to try to move the needle toward greater inclusion and diversity in the world of philanthropy,” explained Shaw. “The class seemed genuinely touched by the moving stories the organizations brought to their attention.”
Pro Vita Director Donald Anselmi introduces Mountainfilm on Tour during Pro Vita. "One of my favorite parts about Pro Vita and why I think it really represents what Berkshire is all about, is that the variety of experiences push students to dig deeper to better understand themselves and where they want to go on their life journey," Anselmi said.
Students teamed up in groups of three as “philanthropic entrepreneurs,” and made $20,000 in grants to organizations in Berkshire County. “Sharing the gift of giving, spreading this power of effecting change among all members of our community is important,” said Shaw. He hopes that students will share this philanthropic experience with others to “amplify a ‘pay it forward’ philosophy” that would spread beyond Berkshire.
It seems the philosophy has already started to take hold, even after only five days. “This past week has taught me so much about nonprofits and philanthropy,” said Christian Kim ’22. “[By giving away a grant], I can say I made an impact on society, and that I potentially changed someone’s life,” Kim continued. “That is something I’d do any day.”
In the true spirit of the week, Pro Vita 2019 left an impact on students who embrace the philosophy, for life.