Brett Bergene

Brett Bergene

Brett Bergene: High Expectations and True Affection
From June 2002 Today at Breck

Upper School Dean of Students Brett Bergene says that disciplining students is the least favorite aspect of his job, but he's unquestionably a natural at it. "Brett instills discipline -- he doesn't administer it," says Upper School Director Linda Tapsak. Upper School Spanish instructor Carol Raths observes, "Brett has been a joy to work with. He holds the students to a high bar and they respect him tremendously." Athletic Director John Thiel, who hired Brett for his first coaching position at Breck puts it this way: "It still amazes me how he can discipline a student and the student walks out of his office thanking him."

And what do the students say? We asked a random group for some comments. Here are the first four:

"He doesn't get enough credit for all the things he does," says junior Lauren Tanick.

"He's been a great source of support for the senior class. He always encourages whatever we pursue, and keeps his door open for a friendly chat," say seniors Annie Belz and Christina Barsky.

"He does his job very well. He's an authority figure, but he's also your friend," says sophomore Sara Scatarella.

"Once you establish trust with him, he doesn't break it. He'll defend you," says sophomore Nolan O'Brien.

Now in his eighth year at Breck, Brett has just finished his third year as dean of students. He's been a football coach here since the fall of 1994, became assistant softball coach in 1997, has been a long-term substitute and a member of the physical education department. He says one of the pleasures of having worked with Lower School students is that many of them still greet him happily when he sees them in the halls. "A group of sixth graders I'd taught as second graders asked me to sign their yearbooks," Brett smiles.

That yearbook, coincidentally, was dedicated to Brett by the class of 2002 "an experience he describes as "pretty amazing." "I'm not one for a lot of words," Brett says, "but I was seriously speechless up there [after receiving the dedication at chapel]. This particular class is very special. This is an honor that will stick with me forever."

Linda Tapsak says the yearbook dedication is something that happened because Brett's "high expectations for ethical behavior are blended with true affection." It's an affection that feels like a close-knit family, something that Brett, the second youngest in a family of five children and proud uncle of 12, understands. And when he's not visiting his parents at home on the farm in Adams, Minnesota (near Austin), he has a surrogate family here. As Linda says, only half-joking, "I have two sons, four stepsons and now an adopted son right here in the office."

Brett says he always knew he was more interested in following the career path of his mother, a retired teacher, than in staying on the farm. He went to Bemidji State University to study sports management, and began coaching college football after graduation. The more he coached, however, the more he realized that he wanted to combine it with teaching. So he went back to school, getting a second degree in K-12 physical education from Concordia. Still, he says, "I've learned more from the kids since I've been here than in all my years of school."

When he's not at school, Brett enjoys spending time with his wife Kristi, a graphic design marketing assistant for Toro whom he met at Bemidji State. He admits to a bit of an obsession with golf ("I play so much, I usually get sick of it by July"), and enjoys fishing, winter sports and being a doting uncle to all those nieces and nephews.

This summer, Brett says, he'll also have to devote some days to catching up on his paperwork. "I don't spend a lot of time at my desk," he laughs. "The seniors spend a lot more time in my office than I do."

And come fall, there will be a new class of freshmen to get to know. "You can always count on them to be freshmen," says Brett. "But they're completely transformed by the end of that first year in Upper School. At the end of school, I met with the current freshmen, and they've grown up so much. I'm already looking forward to being with them when they're seniors."

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Note: In July 2007, Brett Bergene will take over as Breck's Athletic Director. He succeeds John Thiel who is moving to the East Coast for a new job and to be near family.