If you have ever spent any time in our Lower and Middle School libraries, in particular (both meticulously renovated in recent years with boys’ reading needs and interests in mind), you will know that they are veritable magnets for boys, who seem endlessly fascinated by the variety of worlds they can explore through the literature made available to them–curated, importantly, by invested librarians who know boys, understand their reading habits, and exude an enthusiasm for reading that the boys can’t help but match.

Remarkably, Lower and Middle School boys checked out just under 20,000 books in 2025-2026. Lower School programs such as “Battle of the Books” (BOB) and “Dads Read” help establish a genuine reading culture early in a boy’s learning experience. That reading culture continues into the Middle School, which boasted five 6th graders–more than ever before–who joined the “Million Word Club,” reading over a million words throughout this past school year. Middle School book talks and reading challenges help keep the spirit and love of reading alive through a key developmental stage of a boy’s growth.

As the father of a recent St. Christopher’s graduate and a rising junior, and as someone who spends most of the academic day surrounded by Upper School boys, I will confess that we often see a boy’s passion–and time–for pleasure reading wane a bit in the Upper School, when co-curricular activities, evening homework, and significant required reading in the humanities increase. However, I will share my particular delight in observing that same recent St. Christopher’s graduate recently spend hours on the beach reading a hard-copy novel. Boys do read, when placed in an environment that values reading, one that affords the opportunity to read through time and space, and when surrounded by adult mentors who model the habit of reading for pleasure and intellectual expansion. 

As for podcasts, a fellow boys-school head encouraged me to listen to Ben Sasse’s podcast, "Not Dead Yet." Sasse, a former U.S. Senator and university president, was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in late 2025. Faced with a terminal illness, Sasse is numbering his days with a focus on family, faith, and making meaning of our short time together. Listening to the podcast, one can’t help but wrestle with the big questions of life–our purpose, our work, our family, our legacy.

 

As I listened to Sasse and his guests discuss these weighty matters, I found myself pondering our own shared purpose at St. Christopher’s and our boys’ lives well beyond their time with us.

Nearly 30 years ago I began my career in education as a Middle School history, English, and math teacher at an all-boys Episcopal school. Six years later I started teaching Upper School history. In both settings, I would ask my students to consider two essential questions–What? And So What?

In asking the first question, I asked my boys to examine content–the (usually) linear facts of the matter. But, in the second question, the really important one, I encouraged boys to wrestle with meaning, with context, with synthesis, and with purpose. 

In 2026-2027 and beyond at St. Christopher’s, assessments will continue, academic rigor and achievement will persist and will be celebrated, as is appropriate. But, more than anything, we will focus on the well-being of our boys, our faculty and staff, our families, and our alumni, too. This, in essence, is our So What.