The Brunswick Trust N E W S L E T T E R
Brunswick Trust Report – Winter 2024
T
he Brunswick Trust aims to develop an “appreciation of one’s responsibility to contribute to the greater good for all.” Boys in all Brunswick divisions have passed these winter months in discussions and activities intended to build a lasting sense of purpose. We have debated the true nature of teamwork and responded to the immediate needs of our local community. We have challenged our perspectives and been challenged to explore our passions and interests. We have worked to finetune how we care for ourselves so that we can better care for others. As always, Brunswick boys and their teachers strive to use the vocabulary and practice of The Brunswick Trust to build a community that takes care of us all.
Character & Leadership
N
ine years ago, Daniel James Brown’s Boys in the Boat served as the first-ever Brunswick Trust summer read. It’s a thrilling, heroic story about the rise of an underdog University of Washington crew team during the Depression — and their unlikely victory in Hitler’s 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Now that the book has been made into a movie, a whole new set of boys has had a chance to learn about the feats of these eight men and their coxswain. Upper Schoolers gathered in Baker Theater on Feb. 29 to view the film; they later met in advisories to consider some questions offered by Brunswick Trust Coordinator Kate Duennebier. Among the queries that helped get the boys thinking: • What do you think is so appealing about the assembly, rise, and victory of this eight-man crew? • Do you think the film does a good job of situating us in the Depression era as well as building the importance of Olympic gold in ’36?
• How do you see the role of families playing out — do you think Rantz was as successful as he was simply because he needed this brotherhood? • There is no masking the analogy of this underdog team from the University of Washington representing the underdog nation of the USA. Do you think the parallel is stretched for dramatic purposes, or is it deserved? continued on page 2
CHARACTER
D I V E R S I T Y, E Q U I T Y,
H E A LT H
SERVICE &
& LEADERSHIP
INCLUSION &
& WELLNESS
S U S TA I N A B I LI T Y
BELONGING