We hope by now you’ve seen the city blanketed with the Brookstone Be the One signs! And while many of you know what that means, we wanted to take some time to elaborate as well!

Over the course of the past year, we’ve worked to refine our message and develop a way to effectively tell our school’s story. There is so much good going on at Brookstone – how do we best share it all? The end result…Be the One.

 Be the One is about so much more than a slogan or a tag line. It’s the very heart of our school. It’s who we are. It’s what we do.

It’s what we have always done.

Brookstone has always been focused on ONE, both individually and collectively. One student, one teacher, one school. It’s where our focus has always been. Now we just have a way to talk about it.

Similar to the message in the video above, below is an excerpt from Marty Lester’s remarks to the faculty at the beginning of the school year, elaborating about our efforts.

There is, in education, a lot of talk about numbers. All kinds of numbers. And there is a fixation on these numbers that I think is harmful. Not just to our profession, but to our children.

What numbers am I talking about? The numbers that are a part of the game that just about all schools are required to play. Some of the brightest minds in independent education lament the fact that they have to play the game because that is what colleges dictate. And, to a large degree, that is true. 

So, necessarily, we get fixated on numbers : ACT, SAT, AP, GPA, PSAT, National Merit, free throw percentages, yards gained, first serve percentages, ERA, places in choral competitions – think about it. We can go on and on talking about numbers.

It is the game we are expected to play, and our school, our students, do incredibly well. We can, we do, and we will always remain at the top of that competitive game. 

So why does the fixation with numbers bother me so much? Because no matter how well our students do, and again, they do incredibly well, it is not an accurate description of the work that we do here at Brookstone school. Those numbers, for most of our families, are not why they are here. They are here because our students are so much more than a number.

But, nonetheless, it brings up the point, What is our number? What should our number be?

I think our number should be one.

Our focus is on that one student that we help succeed in ways they didn’t think imaginable…That one student who truly leads her classmates…The one teacher, who makes a difference in the lives of her colleagues and students every day…One team, whether it’s a grade level, a department, a division or a sports team – one team devoted to each other, their common purpose, and driven to succeed…One family – our school family, our community, focused on that one idea – that we are to help and serve children. We have one purpose, one direction, one result. To be the best school, in every way, for our students and our community.

That’s what Be the One means. That’s the sentiment it embodies. At Brookstone, we are focused on ONE.  We’re one team, one family, dedicated to serving, loving and teaching 800 little and not so little ones.

It’s why these teachers do what they do.

It’s why these students can be who they are.

Each one of these students is different and uniquely made. Each child has his or her own dreams, talents, successes, and struggles. They all have their own story and not a single one is alike.

Our job at Brookstone is to be the teachers who create the atmosphere, and give them the tools and the support so that they can BE THE ONE – in all the different ways that can happen.

Be the one who makes others happy. Be the one who is brave. Be the one who is confident. Be the one who thinks outside the box.

Be the one who has grit. Be the one who is resilient. Be the one who reflects. Be the one who explores.

Be the one who LEADS.

Be the one who is fearless. Be the one who is bold. Be the one who serves. Be the one who is kind.

Be the one who has the BEST YEAR EVER! (And we think it will be!)

In a world where people try to define you with numbers, and assign your worth as a result, there is only one number we are focused on here at Brookstone – ONE.

So this day and every day, Brookstone family, we challenge you to BE THE ONE! Wherever you find yourself, BE THE ONE who makes a difference in the world around you.