How To...
Lead a School From The Worst To Best
Making Education Fun Again
To hear Hamish Brewer speak is to be inspired. About education. About life. About the possibilities of it all.
And for disadvantaged youths that come from poverty and broken homes, the New Zealander with an infectious energy works hard to encourage them to excel, not only in school, but in life.
With a shaved head, tattoos, and one of those loud, larger-than-life personalities, Hamish Brewer is hard to miss.
He yells, gestures, and can often be seen roaming the halls on a skateboard, not hidden away in some back office. And he often visits the classrooms of his pupils to interact and encourage them with positivity. It’s all part of his relentless strive for excellence.
This, he says, is key—an in-your-face kind of motivation that puts the wants and needs of the kids first.
And it seems to be working. In just five years, he turned Occoquan Elementary from a sleepy little school to one of the best in the state, winning five School of Excellence awards in the process.
“Everything I do is about kids,” he says. “Every decision I make comes back to: Was I better for kids today?”