On Wednesday, January 20th, the Upper School community watched the Faculty Voices Assembly in an advisory Flex period. This year’s theme was “resilience”, specifically in regards to the resilience that the GA community demonstrated by persevering through the obstacles of this unusual school year. The three speakers could not have fit this topic better: Mrs. Carol Ayers, Mr. Carlos Chubb, and Mr. Masters. This diverse group of faculty speakers each brought different perspectives to the assembly.
Mrs. Ayers began the assembly by highlighting her experiences as one of the only teachers of color throughout her professional career. Despite being denied opportunities, Mrs. Ayers did not let herself become hindered by these experiences. Instead, she understood her worth as a Latino-African American educator and successfully embraced her skillset, who she was, and where she came from. Mrs. Ayers recalled her experience as GA’s first-ever Black Upper School Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Mrs. Ayers resilience allowed her to become deeply involved in the GA community. Besides being a Spanish teacher, she is also the Faculty Leader of the Black Student Alliance Affinity Club and SGA. The main message of her compelling speech was to embrace your background and to remain resilient through life’s challenges.
Mr. Chubb followed this speech with a heartfelt story about two significant experiences that changed his life: losing his sister and father. He described them both as energetic, optimistic, and humorous people who enjoyed everything life had to offer. He emphasized how instrumental they were in shaping the man he is today. Despite enduring these difficult losses, Mr. Chubb explained how he was able to maintain his positive attitude: he believes that his resilience is what his sister and father would have wanted to see. While there were many times he could have given up or followed the crowd, instead, Mr. Chubb made it clear that he expected more for himself to make his loved ones proud. Because of these experiences, Mr. Chubb is one of the most charismatic people at GA—whether in the classroom, CSO, or on the basketball court. He also applauded the GA student community for their diligence and resilience during the pandemic. When reflecting on his speech, Mr. Chubb said, “I feel great. I always wanted to tell the student body how fortunate I feel for everything I have and how amazing students at GA are. It was a shame not being able to present to students in person, but I think the message came across. I love that students emailed me and dropped by my classroom to congratulate me for the speech. That was special.”
Last but certainly not least, Mr. Masters delivered an engaging speech about what describes him best: energy. As the instructor of The Singing Patriots, the Upper School choir, Mr. Masters is deeply involved with the energy of music and its vibrations. In his speech, Mr. Masters explained his fascination with the intricacies of how the world functions and the pivotal role energy plays in this experience. He spoke about times where people failed to work positively together, and how he used these lessons as a source of musical growth. As a sophomore in high school, Mr. Masters received criticism from others for his first music album. Despite these troubles, his resilience enabled him to pursue his passions and confidently release more music.
The timing of this assembly could not have been better. At the climax of this pandemic, we must find hope to move forward. These teacher-heroes have paved the way with their resilience. We can all follow in their footsteps.