Meet Dr. Ryan Wooley

Lives of Becoming

By Dr. Ryan Wooley
Associate Head of School

I grew up in a town called Mogadore, located roughly between Akron and Kent. It was – and is – the smallest public school district in Summit County. 
 
I graduated in a class of 64 students. Of the roughly 125 boys in the high school, to this day 80 some join the school’s football team each year. Most of my class sizes were probably in the range of 12 to 15 students. There were no cuts in sports, theatre, or any other activity, which was great for a dilettante like me who wanted to do everything.
There are pros and cons to being in a small place but one thing is for sure: you cannot be anonymous. Everyone gets personal attention. Everyone matters. Combined with the loving family home environment I had with my parents and two sisters, the formative years of my life instilled in me a tacit understanding that, not only did my life matter, but so did everyone else’s. I graduated high school with an assumption that life was precious and that it was upon me to, borrowing the words of Henry Thoreau, “live deliberately [and] deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” 
 
The next stop on my journey was a seven-campus university system with over 35,000 students. I was reminded of this recently when, during a parent coffee chat with Head of School Charles Debelak, one of our parents asked if Birchwood students had a hard time adjusting to “bigger” environments after leaving Birchwood. 
 
In my head, I was remembering the immediate comfort I had at the university and the seamless transition it was. It was the first of four degrees I would earn, all while working full-time jobs – selling shoes at Stride Rite, carving tires in my father’s tire-carving shop, or working as an administrator at Kent State University. 
 
The transition from a class of 64 to a class of 8,000 was easy because my primary and secondary education years set me up well for collegiate and professional life. I was prepared academically. I had a work ethic and a good moral compass from my family. I was engaged by my world. I had what Mr. and Mrs. Debelak would call “agency,” which I would owe to the nurturing of my great teachers and proud parents. 
 
Thirty to 40 years before I met the Debelaks, I had experienced something similar to what they would come to call the “Success Cycle.” My school being small was part of it, but more than that, there was intention on the part of my teachers and parents to foster a life of engagement and purpose. Believing that you and those around you matter, feeling confident in your ability to learn, seeing opportunity and possibility in your world are precious gifts that travel with you wherever you go.

So, when the question came up about Birchwood graduates navigating “bigger” environments, I thought of how well prepared they are for such transitions. Our academic program has endowed them with strong habits, skills, and agency. Our teachers have been modeling engagement with the world. Our character education program has called them to grow their virtues and consider ways they can make the world better while living their best lives. 
 
Birchwood’s size and design do not allow for anonymity or disengagement. Our students leave us confident in their capabilities because they have shown through daily work and through the many competitions peppered throughout the curriculum that they are skilled. 
 
They have had to think about what makes great people great. They have had to wrestle with Aristotelian virtues and develop the habits required to breathe them into life. 

From the ground up, Birchwood has been designed to prepare its students for what is next; in other words, for a “life of becoming.” Near or far, big or small, Birchwood graduates are ready for what is next.
 
Thank you to the Debelaks for having the courage, creativity, fortitude, generosity, and benevolence to make the ideal school. Thank you for letting me join in the fun. 
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