Alumni Stories

Nate Bennett Munro, 1999 - 2008

The older group on a class trip to Montreal, PQ circa 2007

Left to right: Will Eaton, Larson Coppinger, Nate Bennett, Emi McLellan, Ruby Alley and Jonah Pace

 I attended SAU for 10 years. I started in kindergarten and was there for each successive grade from there on - including a second 8th grade year. It’s possible that I hold the record for the longest period of time enrolled as a student at SAU. 

  I have many, many great memories from my time as a student at School Around Us. One experience that really shaped who I am today, was through the processes of building wooden forts on the school grounds and playing a plethora of sports on snack and lunch breaks. Both experiences were exciting and challenging and fun. My friends and I were put into positions where we had to problem solve and rely on each other and above all else communicate with one another. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of being a student at SAU - as just one individual in a group of children with a large variety of ages, experiences, abilities and needs - it is essential that you can listen, advocate, and find resolutions to potential conflicts that crop up. This is something that was a daily occurrence and I’d like to believe that all of us are better for it - for having played together and cared for one another.    

The greatest and most profound gift that I received during my tenure at SAU was a lasting sense of self and the importance of democratic processes in community. I found the core person that I still am at SAU and during this period of growth and development, my voice and opinions and thoughts were valued and heard. I never felt like I was ‘just a kid’ and naive with silly ideas about the world. At School Around Us, student’s voices were validated - and in a society that largely interacts with children in demeaning ways - this commitment to the child as a whole person is what sets SAU apart.

After I graduated from School Around Us, I attended The New School for my highschool years. The two schools were founded by Marylyn Wentworth (and others of course) and have always been affiliated - sharing many of the same care philosophy. I was at TNS for 4 years until I graduated. I found the transition pretty challenging at first, having really known only SAU and missing the familiarity I had there. But over the course of my time in highschool, I learned to love and enjoy my experience there. My experience at SAU really helped me to hold perspective and to advocate for my needs.

Emerald City guard & maid from the All School Play The Wizard of Oz

Nate Bennett and Emilia McLellan (above)

I live in Midcoast Maine with my wife and son in a small thatched stone cottage that we have been building together for a few years now. (All of those years of fort building in the playground have really been applicable). This home of ours is very important to us, as it represents our values and goals for our lives and a great deal of accomplishment in the work we have put into it. I have an Associates degree in Education from Southern Maine Community College, and a Bachelors and Masters degree in Education with a focus in Secondary Social Studies from Goddard College. At this point in my life I am unsure exactly how teaching will find its way into my life, but I am very open. I am committed to education and great teaching - not to a career. Much of my identity stems from my family, our home and homesteading aspirations.

I have always considered myself a dreamer and I could list a massive laundry list of future goals. My wife and I would like to live a lifestyle that is rich and meaningful and that divests from as much of this capitalist economy as possible. I dream of becoming a published writer someday. I’d like to grow and process all of our basic food needs. I want to spend more time doing pottery and traveling in Europe. I wish to teach in a way that feels authentic and meaningful and important - but I am not sure what that is at this moment. I want to be a great father to my son.

Above: Nate working on the thatching of his stone cottage

Below: View of the stone cottage, Midcoast Maine