Form I Boys Reveal Their Heroes 

On a bright spring morning, Form I boys could be found gathered across campus to deliver speeches to their advisor groups answering the question “Who are your heroes and why?” 

In their Hero Speeches, the boys reflected on the people and qualities they admire with answers ranging from parents to coaches to siblings and more. While each boy spoke to their own personal experience, shared qualities of dedication, responsibility, and selflessness shined through.  

Form I Head Advisor Joe LaLiberte ‘14 explained that these answers came as a result of a yearlong exploration of heroism which began in August during the Form I trip to Camp Belknap. “At Camp Belknap we have the opportunity around the fire to get boys up in front of their peers, sometimes for the first time, introduce themselves and share who their hero is and why,” Mr. LaLiberte said. “It gets them thinking about not just who their heroes are but also what is heroism. What are the qualities you admire in folks you hold in high regard?”

This theme remains present all year long through the class curriculum and additional programming. Boys complete hero sculptures in Form I Art. English I features books intentionally chosen to connect back to the theme. Near the halfway mark of the year, the entire form reconnects around a virtual fire in the MacPherson room to spotlight heroes among  the Belmont Hill community, giving the boys a chance to identify peers in their form or in the School that they look up to and why.

“It’s a beautiful two fold theme,” Mr. LaLiberte said. “It’s paying respect to the people who have gotten you here, because there’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into getting someone to Belmont Hill, but then also what are the qualities that I want to foster in myself as I go through here and beyond.”

While heroism has been a centerpiece of the Form I experience for some time, the Hero Speeches were introduced this year as a culminating moment where the boys harness everything they’ve learned and seen through their first year at Belmont Hill. As the boys continue their journeys at Belmont Hill, they will strive to take the characteristics they spent the year identifying and make them their own. 

In a few years, when the latest crop of Form I boys seek examples of heroism, they will hopefully have to look no further than the students who came before them.