By Pippa Barton and Kayla Resnick
Zaj Burgie, or Mr. Burgie as most people know him, came to Fieldston in 2001 when he was in pre-k and graduated high school in 2016. An Eagle for all 14 years of his education, he knows just how special our school is. He talks about what Fieldston was like when he went here compared to what it is now, the teachers he had, and just what makes our school so special.
Burgie explains that throughout his journey here, he was given lots of opportunities to use his voice, which could be a good and/or bad thing. In school, especially at Fieldston, we are taught to stand up for ourselves and speak out against the things that matter to us, which is a good thing, but we also have to be careful about how we use our voices and what we say. The things that we are taught in school will change our opinions and our future lives, as he also states. Burgie was a student here as well, as we mentioned before, so he has a unique experience in terms of understanding these things because he did it all himself, just like we are.
Fieldston was different then as it is now, and there are also different grades at Fieldston, like high school vs. middle school, and those have to be different. At school, we have the things that are ‘popular.’ When asked what was popular when he was at school, he explained that it was cool to be doing something in your life and getting good grades and things like that. Now, what is popular is doing something in life, getting good grades, but also social media. It is similar but different now than it used to be. In addition, he explains how different high school is from middle school. He says that high school has more pressure, and you also have to be responsible, but the pressure, he says, is only as real as you make it. However, there is more independence in high school, partly because you can choose what you want to study. In middle school, you don’t get to do that, and middle school is less (not none, but less) pressure because you are getting into the groove of things.
As a kid, Burgie had his own Fieldston experience, just like us. However, there is one thing that might not be so different. The teachers! Many of the teachers that we have now he had when he was growing up. Some of those teachers are Mr. Baglio, Mr. Quart, Mr. Richer, and Ms. St. Claire. It is so cool to think about how even though things might have changed, like being online, for example, those teachers stayed strong with us for all those years. He is very thankful for his teachers and how much hard work he now knows they put into every student’s education.
After Burgie graduated, he returned a year later as a springtime Ultimate Coach during Covid; four years later, he became a substitute teacher, online of course, where he saw how much hard work they put in to make our education just as good as when in person. He got to experience the kid side of things, and now he gets to experience the teacher side. Mr. Burgie mentions that as a teacher, he learns from his students just about as much as they learn from him and other teachers.
Not only is Burgie a substitute teacher, but he is also an Ultimate Frisbee coach. He says how special it is to be a coach and how it is becoming more and more popular. There are more people who are really interested in the athletics of the sport, which makes it all the more interesting and fun for him and the team. He not only teaches his team, but they teach them. In addition, Burgie also runs an after-school DJ club. He teaches students how to use all of the technology that comes with DJing so that they can do it themselves. He is still a producer as well, so he has his own musical experience,
Lastly, a piece of advice from Burgie. “Appreciate the place and appreciate the people.”
