By Vladimir Klimenko, Upper School history teacher, Hackley School A member of Hackley’s History Department since 2005, New York-born Vladimir Klimenko grew up in a Russian-speaking immigrant family. …

By Avraham Sosa-Velasco, Ph.D., Spanish teacher, Modern Languages Department Chair, Hackley School Ask a middle or upper school student to describe a day in Dr. Sosa’s Spanish class, and they may highlight my unlimited enthusiasm, energy, and fun. But what they likely will illustrate in much more detail — while…

By Michael C. Wirtz, Head of School, Hackley School Adapted from the Convocation 2022 remarks to K-12 students. “How do I do that?” At the start of a new school year, this may very well be the question of the moment: “How do I do that?” …

By Michael C. Wirtz, Head of School, Hackley School Adapted from Mr. Wirtz’s May 3, 2022 Chapel Talk to the Class of 2022 June 1993. Mentor, Ohio. I remember driving to my high school to board the “big yellow taxis” parked and waiting to take me and some 800 of…

By Jennifer Hubert Swan, Library Department Chair and US Librarian, Hackley School I grew up in the public library–the Carnegie District Library in Howell, Michigan. And while I never actually slept there like the siblings who ran away to the Met Museum in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil…

By Robert J. Aldrich, Director of Operations and Campus Planning, Hackley School Representing and celebrating the importance of diversity in the workplace and ensuring that the teams that I am a part of are inclusive and representative have been defining characteristics of my life. I joined the Hackley community in…

By Damon Hall, Middle School history teacher, 7th Grade Dean, Coach, Hackley School “If you want to go fast, go alone…” When I was in high school, one of my favorite teachers was Mr. Brennan. He had been both my teacher and coach and had made me feel seen as…

By Ariana Aguilar, Director of Annual Giving, Hackley School My mom, like her mother, was born in a town so small and rural that I couldn’t find it on any map until I was in my teens. We had to look up its location based on the nearest small city…

By M. Cyndy Jean, Assistant Head of School for Community and Inclusivity, Hackley School When I think about community, I often envisage specific individuals that have helped me to understand the meaning and purpose of the term. At Hackley, many of the individuals that first come to mind are the…