Transcript: Mr. Perry on Listening, Leading, and the Meaning of University School

Good morning and welcome back to the show. We're here with Spanish teacher, director of the upper school, Mr. Christopher Perry. How are you, Mr.

Perry? I'm doing great. How are you, Charlie? I'm great.

Great to have you here. Thanks, John. Firstly, let's talk about your early life. Where did you grow up and kind of how were you as a kid?

Are there any experiences from those early years that really kind of stuck with you today? Sure. Sure. Well, I was born to, I'll say my parents name because I think it's important, Vali Margarita Gomez de Schlesinger, Colombian woman, who was the child of a German immigrant and a Colombian woman herself.

And Ralph Foster Perry III, an American man who happened to meet this Colombian woman at college in California, and I was born in Caracas, Venezuela, a country that in the 70s and 80s was totally different than it is now. And unfortunately, we had to leave in 1989 because of reasons that we see now, but my father was then working for an American company, and we were living a great life. We moved in 1989 to Huntsville, Alabama. My brothers and I were young, but we had the great fortune to go to an independent school not too dissimilar to this one, other than the fact that it was co-ed.

And that shot me to another great place of education, which is Amherst College. It really did shape the trajectory of my life, so I'm really grateful for my education and I think that's what has influenced the fact that I've become an educator as well. And you mentioned you had brothers how do you think your experiences with your brothers as a child kind of influence how now you can interact with the students here and our theme of brotherhood at US? Oh it's it's part of deeply part of who I am I'm the oldest of three brothers we were all in high school at the same time I was a senior when my brother Jonathan was a junior and then my brother Ricky was a freshman.

We all played varsity soccer together. I was in the center. I was a defensive midfielder. My brother Ricky was an attacker.

And although I got more playing time than him, he claimed to have more goals in my senior year. But it was a wonderful experience growing up with two younger brothers. We were active all the time. We were outside all the time. time, and I think it makes it feel natural for me to be in a place like this.

I remember getting a call about this opportunity in 2012. My wife and I were living in New York City, and I thought, oh, boys, I can do this. I had worked at a couple independent schools, and then coming to an all-boys school seemed like a natural fit, and it's been wonderful. Yeah, that's great.

Did you always know you wanted to go into education? Like, was it something really early on where you were like, I want to just be a teacher? And do you really want to just kind of ingrain those ideas into us? Or was it something that kind of grew later on?

I think a little bit of both. My mom was a teacher. She was a language teacher. She knows many, many languages.

French, Spanish, Italian, German, English, of course. My great-grandfather was a principal in a high school in Morristown, New Jersey. So it was in me, and I think it was also in me because of my role as an older brother, too. I was always feeling like I was teaching and responsible for my younger brothers, too.

Truth be told, I got out of college and I did what everybody did. I went to New York, I got a finance job. I lasted about a year and I felt it wasn't for me. And then I got a teaching job at a boarding school in Connecticut.

And that's when I knew this is something that really hits my heart and gets me motivated and gets me out of bed every morning. So a bit of both family circumstances, relationships, once going into teaching, have helped propel me. It's amazing to see, you know, on social media, students that I taught 20 years ago that have kids of their own, and going to independent schools where I taught. It's just incredible.

Yeah. And you mentioned you played soccer in high school. Were there any other extracurricular activities that you did other than soccer? Soccer was huge.

I was a very, very committed soccer player. I played for a travel team. We accomplished a lot. We were state champs, and we went to regionals, and I hear about all these.

It's a very different state. This is the state of Alabama. But it was a big part of my life, and I went and played a little bit at Amherst College, although some injuries knocked me in those early years there. I was big into theater, too.

I enjoyed performance. It helped me feel confident and grow in confidence. So theater, soccer, those were the main avenues for me to participate in my school community. You know, was there a particular teacher or mentor, kind of, either in high school or through college and later on, who really just stuck with you?

Yeah, there are two that come to mind. The first, in high school, a gentleman named Louis Cobbs. Brilliant. Brilliant English teacher.

He had gone to Harvard and then to Duke, and he was sitting in front of us and leading us through discussions right at Harkness table. I mean, just a wonderful spirit. very gentle, but enabled us to feel like we could be honest with him. There was something about how we spoke about him and with him that made him different. I think I felt more sincere and more myself when I was with him, and he helped me a lot.

I still am in contact with him. He just retired, and I wrote a letter in his honor, and I felt so proud to have been part of his life. So Luzkovs taught me English. In college, I was mentored by a gentleman called Ilan Stavans, a Mexican-Jewish man who taught a lot about the overlap of different cultures.

I was an English and Spanish double major, and he taught some courses that at first I thought, what in the world is this? There was one course called Spanglish. English. I thought, oh, come on.

What is going on here? But what he was really getting at is how languages and cultures are not fixed things. They are things that are living, breathing, organic. And it really hit me in my heart having come from a family where those barriers seemed to have been dissolved and felt very different.

So Ilan Stavans, Lewis Cobbs, and then countless other educators, peers as well. I learned from my friends who have gone off and done amazing things, whether it be in business, in medicine, in law, in education too. And during your college years, did you ever get the chance to travel abroad or internationally? Yeah, I did.

I was in Spain for a semester in the early 2000s, and I was there through New York University's program. So I went to school in a building right down the street from the Bernabeu, which is the home of Real Madrid. And I got to see, again, soccer followed me throughout my life, so I got to see Ronaldo So, Phenomeno, not Cristiano. The Brazilian Ronaldo play with Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

That was incredible. But I also got to live the life of being back in a Spanish-speaking country, which was wonderful. I do have a lot of family in Europe still. I have an uncle and aunt from my mom's side who live in Germany.

One in Austria, one in Germany, and then an aunt on my dad's side who lives in Germany, I get to see them as well. And I am so enriched anytime I go abroad whether it to South America or to Europe So I hope to keep on doing it as regularly as they can You know when you think back to your early years of teaching do you remember any of those working mistakes or just surprising successes? I know we all start off, right, just trying to learn our way. So what was one of the first big lessons you learned as a new teacher?

Yeah. Recall I said, oh, yeah, I can do this, all boys. Sure, I'm good. I mean, I remember one of the first classes I had teaching a lower level Spanish class, I mean, freshman boys turning around and the energy between them and among them was just so high.

And I could tell that these guys had relationships that had been formed a long time ago. And I was just walking in, right? It was kind of hard to pierce. But once I got on the train and thought, I can't necessarily control this.

I need to direct it. It was just a blast. I mean, having boys have positive relationships with one another and speaking in language, there are a few things that are more rewarding because it has been my experience that they can develop relationships even deeper should they be speaking through a different language because there's a lot of masking, posturing, provoking that has to be shed through that. And some of the most rewarding experiences been teaching at the school, where after a year's time, we can have 30, 45 minute conversations in Spanish and really understand each other.

The initial year, I think back to years where I taught boys that really connected with one another. I think back to the trip I went in summer of 2017, took 11 boys to Spain for three weeks. That was very special. I think back to coaching boys.

I coached the Maroon team for many years, and the relationships I developed there. I coached with Coach Delamada. I actually coached Dyke of chemistry. He was coaching with me as well.

Special, I think, to be able to meet boys before the academic year and get to know them outside of the pressures of the school. That was great. And as I said, just meeting them. We just had a reunion weekend.

I saw some guys from the class of 2020 who are going to med school, some guys that are working in real estate, some guys that are working in law. I mean, the stretch of what they're doing is just awesome. To see them growing up, it makes me really proud. You know, in 2012, as you said, you made the move to university school in, of all places, Ohio.

What kind of brought you to US? When did you first hear about the opportunity? And kind of what was the decision like for you? Yeah.

I remember the moment. I remember my wife and I were living in Brooklyn, New York. She was a working theater artist. I was teaching at a bilingual charter school called OLA in Hoboken, New Jersey, also working with a theatrical group that did bilingual theater around the city of New York.

And I got a call. We were on our way to Target in Brooklyn, which is now near the site of the Atlantic Yards from the current dean of faculty in Idaho school, Patrick Gallagher. Never heard of this school, never thought about myself in the Cleveland area. But he invited me out.

And it was late January. I remember flying in, there's snow on the ground. And I was just blown away, so impressed by the quality of professionals here, by the students, by the grounds. It was really special.

At that time, they were building the new academic wing, so it was clearly in transition. And I got to know more and more about the broader community and the commitment of the alumni body, and I thought, this makes sense. We were trying to get close to my wife's family, who lives in Michigan. And we had a son who was six, and I think it had been too many times going into the subway.

It was freezing cold. and thought, this is really hard to be parents in New York. So packed up our bags, made it here, and we've been happy ever since. It's been great. I do hiring, and I sometimes talk to people who are from outside the state.

I am a happy transplant. I never would have thought that I'd be living in Cleveland, Ohio. And here we are having a family here and very happy. So yeah.

Some pretty good recruiting out of Mr. Gallagher. Yeah. Well, do you remember your first day or week at US and maybe your first class or your first morning here.

What was that like for you? Sure. Well, the first day was outside of class. The first day was in early August.

If I remember correctly, August 6th or 7th. It was before we went to the August 1st practice date. And it was out in the fields. And I met Enrique de la Mata, and I met a legendary chemistry teacher, George Johnston.

And George was from New York. And George talked like this. And George heard that I was from New York. And we talk about where he was from.

He was from Astoria, Queens. My wife had lived there. And when I'm new in an area, like anybody else, try to make some connections, I was leaning on some pretty bad jokes. And it was some dad puns or something like that, that trying to get a rise.

And I remember telling a joke to George, and he just looked at me strangely and thinking, what is this kid about? and I was thinking the same about him, sizing him up. Well, fast forward to spring of 2020, George is about to retire. He and I have developed a wonderful relationship as he did with so many of his boys. And it was February because it was before the pandemic hit and I remember seeing him in the faculty lounge and he and I had been talking about his upcoming retirement.

And he looks at me and he said, I'm so proud of you, Chris. And then he tells me some version of that same joke that he had heard from me years before. And I remember thinking, here's another lesson from another golden educator, the lesson of listening, the lesson of remembering, and staying committed to growth of anybody. So that was a big moment for me.

I talked about the first classes here. I think the first few years, adjusting to the energy, the rapid energy, was something that was a challenge, but something that was a rewarding challenge to get to, too. You know, US has so many different traditions that we love as students. You guys love us as teachers and administrators.

When you first joined, was there a tradition or kind of just aspect of the school or the community that you just really remember being interesting or loving? Yeah. You know, commencement happened yesterday, and Mr. Gallagher spoke about the music and how music touches emotion and how emotion touches on memory.

And I was struck by the music for assembly. That was something that I thought, OK, this is happening every day. But then I remember learning the alma mater and learning the fight song and thinking, oh, this is fun. This is really fun.

And this is really special. And I think that is a window into what keeps me here. I feel aligned very much with the values of the school. I do think the tradition of the mission and the motto are important in a way to this place, differently than to the schools where I have been previously.

I think our institutional understanding of ourselves is strong. We are a founding member of the International Boys School Coalition. That organization started with just five schools. and the former head of school was the founding president of that organization. I'm going to go present with a few other administrators this summer at the conference.

And that's now over 300 schools worldwide. So the reach of US is really something. I was drawn to that. And Founders Day, Honors Day, commencement, everything we just did over the last week those traditions really landed on my heart You know after years of teaching Spanish and coaching soccer as you said you eventually made the transition to the administration side.

What prompted you to take that first step into becoming the upper school director? And was being a school leader a goal of yours that you had, or was just the opportunity unexpected? Let's see. I was a few years in when my predecessor as department chair of Languages, Carl Furrick, said, you know, it's been a long run, it's been a good run, but I'm moving towards different things.

And then I got approached by a few people saying, I think you'd be good at this. And so I kind of sheepishly went into that role, did that for many, many years. The opportunity for Dean of Faculty, which is currently held by Mr. Axelrod, opened up in the summer of 2019.

I was very excited about that role. I thought that an opportunity to support the faculty who I'd grown to know and love so well and would be really exciting. So I really loved that role. That was a role in which I did, as I said, faculty support, faculty hiring, faculty guidance.

And then in month eight, I think, of year one of that role, the pandemic hit. And my job completely changed. So I went from helping people in their second year to do a faculty kind of reflective process to a huge spreadsheet of who's out because they are under a COVID protocol and making sure that there was continuity and coverage in all the classes. That lasted for a couple of years.

And I felt very fortunate to be at this institution where there were so many people working very hard to support so many of you all during the COVID days. And then I recall Dr. Daughtry, who is a dear friend of mine still, talking about a couple of opportunities that were coming his lap. And he earned a position as head of school at Montgomery Bell Academy.

And again, in moments where I didn't quite know what to do, people believed in me before I believed in myself. And people talked to me about the possibility of earning this role. And it was a wonderfully challenging process to apply for the role because the reflection that was necessary to present myself to everybody in the community was really valuable for me. And it's a great honor to come here every day and to lead this upper school.

Before we go deeper into that role, I want to touch on you use the word love when describing the relationship you have with other faculty members. And I think we use the word love a lot between us as students. What's that connection like between the teachers? I feel like that's not talked about as much.

Well, even from the earliest days, my wife and I, with a seven, eight-year-old, knew nobody in the Cleveland area. We didn't have the ability to go to family for Thanksgiving. Carl Frudrichs, my department chair, hosted us for Thanksgiving. I have grown with colleagues who have been here for many years.

I have been with them as difficulty or challenge or even tragedy has hit them at home, whether it's the loss of a loved one, as Dr. Smith talked about, whether it is a separation from a loved one, whether it is some momentous occasion of their own life. teachers are human and they are going through their own life in their own way. So to have that ability to participate in that human community and to support them as Dean of Faculty where it's just another colleague to celebrate them when there is a birth or to support them when there is a death that has been a real special part of my experience here at the school. We do see each other outside of the school, we connect, maybe we'll go out to eat, we celebrate each other, especially at the end of the semester of the year, and we think back on you guys.

I'm sure we'll think back on you Charlie and on you Jack years from now and remember you fondly and laugh about some goofy stories that we recall at some point in time. Yeah. You know, talking about this kind of brotherhood and this kind of community that we have, another thing that we try to emphasize at USC is kind of just the culture and the culture building. What kind of culture do you kind of aim to cultivate at USC?

You know, like what's special about the student experience at USC and kind of what would you want people to say to that question? It starts with the words that are etched in stone as you drive into the campus, or the ones that I'm looking at over here, over the entrance, responsibility, loyalty, consideration, the two other ones, integrity and respect. But back to your question about traditions, why do we have a handshake at the beginning and the end? Because we want to cultivate that sense of you are honest with yourself enough to look somebody in the eye, to greet them, to be with them. in celebratory moments and in moments that are difficult.

So I hope to model that. Again, I couldn't be in the role that I am in now if I didn't feel deeply connected to those values. I also hope to, in those difficult moments, lead with curiosity before criticism, deliver difficult news with kindness, control strength, to sit in the fire of challenge, to help when somebody needs help, to be responsible for myself and to show responsibility for others. That's the culture that I hope we can model and that I hope we can nurture in boys your age who are 14, 15, 16, 17, who are constantly going back and forth between trying to be better and also living an adolescent life.

How would you define success for the upper school as a whole? And I guess what I mean by that is we just had our class 2025 graduation. And when you look at that class, what makes you say the school has done a good job for those boys? Yeah, well, just look at where they're heading to.

They're going, I believe, 68, 67, somewhere in the upper 60s, different institutions across 25 states. They're going all across this country and some beyond. And I would say it is a testament to this institution that we have boys that are courageous enough to go that far or to different places near home and to live in the valleys of the school. I am proud and would say we've been successful if we develop somebody who can greet somebody who they don't know, look them in the eye, be kind, be considerate, be present with them in an interpersonal level.

I would say that this school is a success if the boys felt that something like community engagement was just not necessarily a responsibility but an opportunity to represent the school in the broader Cleveland community. Just mentioned the people who came for alumni weekend. There are some U.S. grads who are doing amazing things in the Cleveland area. They talk about the lessons that they learned here.

So being able to carry those values to any other venue, whether it be college, workplace, or beyond, I think that a successful mark of a school Yeah and speaking of US grads doing amazing things the graduation speaker this year was Nick Casario the general manager for the Texans which is really cool He talked about you know EQ and also IQ How do you think U.S. cultivates that emotional intelligence and then combines that with, you know, obviously the academic rigor that is here? I think they're tied hand in hand. We are a rigorous institution. It's in our mission.

It's clear that that's how we lead and present ourselves. You will be challenged here, and you will have some setbacks and some frustrations and some disappointments. Not everything is just given. As LeBron says, it's earned.

And you really have to earn that particularly through challenging classes. So the EQ comes in facing that challenge as an opportunity to learn, to grow. I would love to say that you are, don't feel yourselves to be subjects of a test, but users of tests to learn and grow from that. The EQ part comes in how you relate with the people who are really, really, really got your back, but are going to hold you accountable too.

You know, looking ahead, what is your vision for university school? I mean, where do you see US next five to 10 years? Now that you're coming up on to the end of your 13th year, where do you see it at year 23? Boy, that's a great question.

And there are so many important questions that we have to wrestle with. Part of the strategic plan was helping us have a greater vision of how we connect to the city of Cleveland. I think we're doing that in many ways. You all are doing that in amazing ways.

I think we have to wrestle with new developments in technology. Boy, how are we approaching artificial intelligence? What does that mean for your learning? How do you use that in a way that is contributing to a national dialogue on whatever it may be?

And I think we have to continue to talk about what it means to be a leading boys school in this country in terms of, yes, of course, college placement, but also values, what it means to be a man in this day and age. I hope that boys leave this empowered to be positive male role models for others and that can be in any number of ways but the EQ question is something that we need to keep on talking about and developing for sure. Yeah and well this is one of our final questions but what advice would you give to any university school students about making the most of their time here because there's so many things to do you get here everything is thrown at you in a good way and there's just so much that you want to do. So what advice do you have for people that are looking to make the most of their time here?

Yeah. Great question. It can be overwhelming. I mean, that first clubs and activities fair, you see everybody like, oh, smokes.

It's packed. There's so much opportunity. I do think that the try approach is something to do. Give it a try.

Go to a club meeting. See if it fits. See if it works. If it doesn't, OK, that's fine.

Try something else. I would say don't be afraid to develop relationships with adults early on, even if you're asking for help. Those adults are here for you, even if they're challenging you. So developing relationships with, if it is a sponsor, great.

If it's not a sponsor, that's fine. A teacher that you connect with and talking to them about your experience. Try to see the extra co-curricular opportunities in front of you by attending information sessions, whether it be the Anderson Scholar, the Burns Scholar, the Davey Fellowship. Those are real opportunities to do some amazing individual work.

So check out the visit nights for those. And don't be afraid to get involved, whether it be a sport or a club or a discipline. If you really love history, talk to the history department here, even if he's not your teacher, about what it means to take a deeper dive in history. Same for science.

So that you feel like you can get everything that is available here to you, for sure. You know, with the class of 2025 just graduating, Kyle, what parting advice would you give to them? and all of us about life beyond U.S. and what you're most proud of them for. Yeah. I think you mentioned Nick Cassero.

He had some really nice words, and he did an anagram of prepper. Patience is one. It's not going to be figured out on day one. I think I had some expectations when I got out of college.

I had gotten a good one. I should be doing well. I should have success. And I had a little bit of a dip.

I didn't like what I was doing. And that was a difficult moment in my life. But the reroute to education has set the path ever since. So you will hit some curves on the road.

You'll hit some bumps. Patience with yourself, patience with others. Grace to yourself, grace with others. Take the time and breathe through being present with others, looking them eye to eye even if you're afraid.

Do the work to understand yourself as you're going through the journey of figuring out what the pathway is in college and beyond. And if that means talking to somebody you trust, great. If that means trying out various things, great. That means going to more school, fantastic.

I'm proud of this class for doing that work here, for being so diverse in their interests. You saw Sternad day, we had boys that were writing, boys that were doing science in labs, boys that are doing animation. The diversity of passions is amazing. And having patience with your own journey is the one thing I would say I would tell myself when I was 18, 22, 25, even 30.

You know, one of our favorite questions, and our last one for this school year, is what is your why? Right? We talk about with every single one of our listeners, what is the thing that kind of gets them out out of bed and makes them just keep on going. So Mr.

Perry, what is your why? My why has to do with what it means to be a young man in this day and age. And it ties back to being an older brother. It ties back to that responsibility that sometimes annoyed me, sometimes frustrated me, but has always followed me.

My why is helping young boys become young men who are striving to be a better version of themselves, whatever self they are becoming. I hope that they can see that there is a place for a better version of themselves in this region, in this city, and in this country. Because we need young men of values to live with responsibility, with consideration, with integrity, and with respect for a lot of people. A lot of people can use young men of those values.

So that's my why. Well, Mr. Perry, it's been great having you on the show today. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your stories and insights and experiences.

To our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in today and for this year. And we'll hope you join us not next Wednesday, but next school year for the next episode of Thank you so much, Mr. Perry. Thanks, Jack.