Westminster Hosts Opening SPHERE Event

Westminster hosted the annual opening SPHERE event of the year on Aug. 27 titled “Building Community.” Approximately 140 faculty members from nine schools were in attendance and heard an inspirational presentation by Trinity College squash coach Paul Assaiante.
 

SPHERE is a consortium of 11 independent schools from the greater Hartford area that coordinates programs that bring students and faculty together from member schools. Its mission is to help member schools collaborate in becoming and remaining culturally diverse, inclusive and responsive environments for teaching and learning. The consortium consists of Avon Old Farms, Cobb School Montessori, The Ethel Walker School, Kingswood-Oxford School, The Loomis Chaffee School, Miss Porter’s School, Pomfret School, Renbrook School, Suffield Academy, Watkinson School and Westminster School.
 

During his presentation, Coach Assaiante, a two-time Olympic Coach-of-the-Year and “winningest coach in college sports history” (13 consecutive NCAA titles for Trinity Men’s Squash Team), spoke about how he motivates for success and his book “Run to the Roar: Coaching to Overcome Fear.”
 

He described his basic tenets for success including how he helps his players overcome fear. “It is the fear that locks you up and keeps you from taking chances to be successful,” he explained. He also spoke about the importance of “the power of now” and “living life like it is the last day on earth.” He described how being in the moment allows players to get more out of themselves. He also stressed the importance of focusing on the team as family, saying, “Love wins.” With players from around the world making up his squash teams, he emphasized how important it is to “celebrate the differences.” He said his “paychecks” are the lifelong relationships he has established with students.
 

As a part of its mission statement, SPHERE member schools, “individually and collectively, seek to achieve diversity in faculties, staff and student bodies, to create within each school and among the member schools a climate of respect for differences, to encourage multicultural perspectives in curricular and extracurricular programs, and to build bridges between city/suburb and public/private sectors, races and classes.”