As the expansive, 147-acre All Saints’ Episcopal School campus grows, so grows the items battling for attention on the desk of Head of School Tad Bird. Books – budget sheets and bow ties – it’s all there for Bird, including items that inspires him (family photos) and excites him (a student commission letter from the United States Air Force Academy.) Here’s what we found:
1. Photo of Dad. An Episcopal priest, in the photo he’s delivering a sermon. “He lived his life by example. My parents gave me the freedom of figuring things out on my own.”
2. Interpreter’s Bible /New Oxford Annotated Bible – Keeps it within grabbing distance to help him ponder and reflect – and prepare for a speech to the school’s honor society, which is what he was doing.
3. Family Photos. Picture of his wife when they were first starting to date; photo of his three children.
4. Bow Tie. Gift from alma mater, St. Stephens in Austin. Wore some as a kid but now does it “to annoy my own children.” Rarely leaves home without one now. “I love bow ties. They tie easily and don’t choke you.”
5. C.S. Lewis book on grief – “Lewis is just a good, thoughtful writer. He’s very clear. Not a lot of fluff.”
6. Stack of Books. Collection of material “challenging or pushing us to think a little differently. How we raise kids, help others, the computer age, find our gifts.”
7. Plastic Boston Red Sox Baseball. A New England native who remembers first Red Sox game at Fenway Park in 1967, the ball represents his passion for all things Red Sox: “I’m a die hard. I’m there for the best and worst.”
8. Mahogany wood Wisdom plague. Given to him by a parent after he’d made school decisions during a particularly rough patch.
Quote: “If you don’t grow, you die. And I mean that spiritually and intellectually. How do we manage this growth when interest in our school is at an all time high?” Tad Bird, Head of School All Saints’ Episcopal School