Henry Turner
Henry turned his love of education into a career in teaching, inspired in part by the diversity of the learning environment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Henry Turner'00
We have 900 kids. We have students from Bedford. We have kids from Hanscom Air Force Base and military dependents, and kids who live in Boston. So it's all one big community. One thing that I've learned as a principal is how do we build more connections for kids to their learning environment? And I think UMass has done an exceptional job in creating that physical space. One of the things that I love about UMass was that I was able to find my community. I was a swimmer at UMass. I also met my wife, who was a swimmer at UMass. And so we still have a strong connection to Amherst. UMass has the diversity of being able to support all kinds of students. And so I think that is one of the major attractions of the campus. It's about community, because I've never felt more supported than I think I ever could in any other campus. My job is to be the lead learner in terms of trying to think about how we can improve. I want to help create a culture where all of the adults in the building also want to continue to pursue knowledge of how we can get better. To not feel like we have to be the know-it-alls, but that we are learners as well. So a word of advice that I have for someone graduating from UMass is to find other alums who are in a field that you're interested in. There are so many alums who are willing to help out that I think that would be a great opportunity for students to learn about the career, but also to build a larger network. My name is Henry Turner. I'm the principal at Bedford High School. I stand for the success of all students, and I stand for UMass.