Phoebe
and Josh Miner are part of a class that the former PA admissions dean
terms "kid people."
If you
want to know my father,” advised Josh Miner’s daughter,
Louise, “ask him to tell some stories.” I did, and this
is what I learned: Of his having been in one of the first tanks to
relieve besieged Bastogne in World War II. Of his delivering a Polish
baby in a German barn following instructions relayed by radio from
his base across a river. Of being a burgomeister who married couples
and arrested miscreants. Of finding his Volkswagen on the steps of
Cochran Chapel one morning, delivered by the kids in his dorm. Of
stealing air conditioners and furniture for the admissions office
from the just-vacated office of the Abbot headmaster. Of taking chances
on applicants whose grades and test scores might deny them admission
today. Of providing a new student with a sleeping bag so he could
sleep on the floor—as he and five siblings did at home—until
he got used to the dormitory mattress. Of his and wife Phebe’s
fathering and mothering legions of boys and girls (no imagining the
number of meals provided). Of raising pumpkins and keeping bees. Of
playing thousands of cribbage games. Of driving red convertibles at
breakneck speeds. Of learning on his Outward Bound solo experience
to be much more aware of other people. And, most frequently of all,
of his love of Phebe.
Hear Josh through some of his favorite sayings: “Human nature
is very prevalent.” “I am so happy I could spit green ink.”
“That idea’ll go over like a pair of uranium knickers.”
“We need more ankle-biters on the football team.” “Why
can’t we admit this cross-pollinator of cucumbers?” “Oh,
dear, oh, dear.” “That boy needs toilet training.”
And from the baseball diehard that he was, “Playing lacrosse
is like trampling on the American flag.”
Or read one of the 35 commencement addresses he gave at various schools.
Delve into his book, Outward Bound, USA, which relates his experiences
as U.S. founder in 1962 of the program, modeled after the European
one, and describes what it has meant to thousands of youngsters. Talk
with heads of foundations, of labor unions, of national publications,
of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts—anyone interested in helping kids.
You’ll hear his concern for “the misery of unimportance—the
feeling that you don’t really matter very much: to yourself,
to other people” and his belief that experiential education such
as that espoused by Outward Bound is an antidote for that misery.
Glance at the more than 500 letters he has received during his recent
and continuing struggle with prostate cancer. Letters from two U.S.
presidents, from HRH Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, and from his
son Prince Andrew, Duke of York; letters from Andover alumni and from
Outward Bound. From a CEO: “I need to see Josh Miner at least
once a year to recharge my batteries.” From a fellow administrator:
“a modern-day pied piper who brought young people into the woods,
where they found magic.” And from an alumnus: “You lit a
bright torch that so many of us are carrying across the world.”
And learn a little of his history. Skip over the Exeter and Princeton
years and his service in World
War II and catch up with him at The Hun School in Princeton, N.J.,
where he was assistant headmaster. While there, he was asked by philanthropist
and father-in-law J.P. Stevens Jr. ’15 to meet with German philosopher
and educator Kurt Hahn, who started Outward Bound in Europe, and report
back his impressions of the man. At Hahn’s school in Gordonstoun,
Scotland, Josh and Hahn became fast friends who were both committed
to helping boys raise their self-esteem. Leaving Hun for the Gordonstoun
School, Josh spent two years there as director of activities and instructor
in mathematics. Then, in 1952, PA Headmaster John Kemper, impressed
with Hahn’s philosophy and approach, hired Josh as an instructor
in physics, housemaster and coach of football, basketball and baseball.
Hahn was delighted, saying, “You must go to Andover or Exeter,
but make sure you don’t stay more than five years.” Josh
would spend the next 33 years on the PA faculty. |
Back
in the days of madras madness, Josh Miner was often the first Andoverite
a prospective student met. Note two constants: the smile and the bow
tie. |
The
faculty at Andover was not receptive to experiential learning, but
Josh decided to incorporate a version of what Hahn called “the
Break” into PA’s physical education program. At midmorning,
boys took part in two of six events, sprinting or distance running,
discus or javelin throwing, and long- or high-jumping. The boys saw
they could improve their own records, and their self-esteem rose.
In 1953–54, Josh instituted a controlled experiment. Will Hall
boys took part in a version of the Break; Rockwell residents did not.
When the Will Hall boys did better than their counterparts in academic
achievement, physical fitness and zest for life, the faculty approved
a ninth-grade physical education program including Break activities,
a ropes course, an obstacle course and drownproofing.
Following a six-year leave of absence from PA to fulfill his Outward
Bound USA responsibilities as president and chairman of the board,
Josh was appointed dean of admissions by Headmaster Theodore Sizer
in 1972. With the advent of coeducation, PA’s bicentennial and
the imminent inception of the largest capital campaign ever initiated
by a secondary school, Sizer wanted Andover to be ever stronger. He
asked Josh how long it would take to expand the applicant pool from
900 to 2,000. Could he do it in five years? Josh did it in three by
increasing the travel budget, revitalizing the catalog, building a
network of adults who knew kids well (“kid people”), quadrupling
the number of alumni interviewers, enlisting hundreds of students
as tour guides and nurturing an admission staff brimming with excitement
over the new Andover of coeducation, clusters and vitality. Sizer
wrote, “You brought the Outward Bound spirit [to Andover]…
. the can-do/so-what-if-it’s hard?/let’s-go commitment,
so critical in those years.”
Since retiring from Andover in 1985, Josh has been an adviser to some
27 organizations and received numerous recognitions: the naming of
the dean of admissions’ chair at Phillips Academy in his honor,
the creation of the Josh Miner Experiential Education Award at Princeton
University, a tribute from the Exeter faculty and the establishment
of the Joshua L. Miner National Outward Bound Center in Garrison,
N.Y.
Kurt Hahn once said, “I regard it as the foremost task of education
to insure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising curiosity,
an indefatigable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible
self-denial, and, above all, compassion.” Josh Miner possesses
those qualities. All he has touched can vouch for that, particularly
those closest to him: Phebe; their five children, Phebe, Louise, Joshua,
John and Daniel; and their 10 grandchildren. |
| Meredith
Price has been teaching English at Phillips Academy for 38 years,
12 of them while he also worked as associate dean of admissions under
Josh Miner. Price will retire in June. |
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