Students stream out of Dobbins Hall as the bell rings. A curiously shaped installment draws gazes, prominent against Dobbin’s bright pink backdrop. Before the wall, a metal teddy bear with a collar and tie sits atop a platform, a smile across its face. To its right, vines with blackberries and raspberries stretch across wires. A closer look at the plaque tells inquisitive readers about the memorial’s dedicatee, former English teacher and athletic coach Jason Berry.
Berry was known around campus by his nickname, “Bear,” which was the inspiration for the statue. The nickname originated from former math teacher Jane Keller, with Berry having personally known the Kellers prior to joining Harker.
“He was always huggable,” Jane Keller said. “I’d hug him every morning and I told him, ‘it’s just like a big old bear.’”
After Berry responded to then-Head of Upper School Butch Keller’s call for an English teacher in 2008, students and faculty fondly took to the nickname. As an active figure within the community, Berry’s classroom was a popular spot for students to gather and socialize, and the student council often used his room for meetings. Berry was involved in activities around campus, working to foster school spirit alongside Activities Coordinator and Community Service Director Kerry Enzensperger.
“He was just part of Harker,” Enzensperger said. Everybody knew him, he was really integrated into [our] lives,” Enzensperger said. “Everybody valued his opinions and things he added to conversations.”
Inside the classroom, Berry made lessons engaging. He would play the “dictionary game” during classes, an activity in which students would randomly choose a word from a dictionary for Berry to recite the definition from memory. Moreover, Berry’s love for reading and literature shone through as he taught.
English teacher Jennifer Siraganian was one of the many influenced by Berry’s passion for his subject.
“I would sit in the back sometimes and learn so much from just listening to him,” Siraganian said. “He was just hungry for more knowledge, more reading, more books and more film. When you think about lifelong learning, he encapsulates that.”
In addition to his love for teaching English, Berry also coached girls’ soccer and lacrosse. During a cancer awareness fundraiser held by the soccer team one year, Berry created a humorous tradition called “butts up” where he would stand in the goal, letting people kick soccer balls at him to raise money.
Berry later joined chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine as an assistant lacrosse coach and provided guidance for Irvine, who was then new to coaching sports. Irvine and Berry led the lacrosse team to second place in the West Bay Athletic League in their first year coaching together.
“He was real, authentic,” Irvine said. “He had the combo of that athletic and field awareness as a coach, a mix of having these words of wisdom with a playful energy,” Irvine said. “He could turn it on when he needed to be in serious mode, but he could also [mess] around and have fun.”
The community was deeply impacted when Berry passed away in the summer before the 2013 school year. The Kellers, along with several students, decided to erect a statue in memory of Berry. Former art teacher and sculptor Jaap Bongers designed the statue, taking into account the ideas of the Kellers and Berry’s students, and it was installed in the spring of 2014.
English teacher and department chair Pauline Paskali reflected on Berry’s passion and kindness throughout all aspects of his life.
“He just cared every day, every minute about his students, about his colleagues,” Dr. Paskali said. “You would think he was here forever. It seems his presence is still here with us, and I know we all teach with him in mind.”