On April 29, Upper School (US) Service Learning Coordinator Patty Dei emailed the Community Engagement Leadership Board (CELB) outlining a new Athletic Service Learning Board (ASLB).
The email, seen by The Vanguard, said: “Members of the board serve as ambassadors of both athletics and service, playing a key role in shaping how BB&N combines competition with compassion. The board, once formed, will be a subset of CELB where collaboration will be key between the two boards, but they will act as a separate entity in some capacities as well.”
An hour later, a “What’s Happening” email encouraged students to apply to be on the ASLB.
“Before anyone could respond, it was sent to the whole school,” CELB member Aubrielle Amaral ’26 said. “Our voices weren’t heard with the new board. It’s something separate that we weren’t consulted on.”
Aubrielle acknowledged CELB could work more with athletics.
“There’s lots of varsity athletes on CELB, and the email did point our to attention that maybe we’re not as involved in athletics,” she said.
Athletic Director Jaye Locke would like to connect athletics and community service.
“Athletic teams are a great group to do service projects together,” she said. “Not only is it making an impact on a community, it’s also a great way to bond as a team and think about things beyond yourself.”
Ayana Dhruv ’26 had the idea for ASLB. She met with Mr. Dei several times after winter break, she said.
“Originally, I wanted ASLB to be its own board, separate from CELB, so that students who weren’t fully involved in service like CELB members but who had a mix of interest in athletics and service could come together and work toward a shared goal.”
The process of creating ASLB was difficult, she said.
“There was a lot of back and forth, and most of it had to go through adults. I never had the chance to speak directly with the people the idea was being pitched to, so it sometimes felt like things were happening over my head.”
Mr. Dei heard CELB members’ concerns at a meeting, CELB member You-Yan Wang ’26 said.
“The people who were trying to organize this board should have been a bit more communicative of what their job was going to be. What’s our job going to be? How is this all going to fit in under service learning here at BB&N?”
An email to CELB on June 4, seen by The Vanguard, came from Mr. Dei’s account but was signed “The Service Learning Team.” The email stated: “We truly appreciate your honesty and passion, and we believe we’ve found a solution that honors the work of CELB and moves us all forward.”
In an interview with The Vanguard, Mr. Dei expressed regret over the miscommunication.
“What people didn’t initially understand was the idea of the ASLB wasn’t necessarily meant to be completely separate from CELB,” he said. “I wanted both of these groups.”
The solution is to run ASLB as a subcommittee of CELB. Two to three students will be part of the group.
For US Spanish Teacher and CELB Faculty Advisor Gabriela Gonzenbach, the two committees have similar objectives.
“If we all speak clearly and communicate with each other, we all want the same things,” she said. “We have the shared goal to create a more cohesive program to support our students.”
