Sterling Terrain V02 - Flipbook - Page 43
Sterling College | 41
Ted Bermingham
In Memoriam
April 28, 1927 – January 18, 2022
Ted arrived at Sterling School in 1961 to teach history and coach
soccer with a degree in agriculture from Colorado A&M and another in history from Princeton University. Mid-way through
the academic year in 1962, Sterling found itself without a
headmaster. Ted accepted the position contingent on a oneyear appointment (which ultimately lasted 14 years) and subsequently took it upon himself to look for ways to differentiate
the Sterling experience from other preparatory high schools.
Ted’s vision and creativity not only separated Sterling from
its peers in education in the short term but ultimately created
long standing legacies that continue to define the institution’s
existence today.
Without a doubt, Ted Bermingham set Sterling on the path
that has led us to today – a path that began in the early years
of Sterling School, the institution’s first incarnation. We write
this in his honor and memory but also with some regret. It was
our hope, not yet known to Ted when we corresponded with
him last, to interview him for this issue of Terrain. His story is
worth telling, worth remembering, and will long outlast him. Ted
would have turned 95 on April 28th, 2022.
When a house and barn went up for sale near Little Hosmer,
Ted engaged a generous Sterling family to purchase the property in 1963 and establish Sterling’s first farm where it thrived
until it moved its operations to its current location on campus.
The original farm incorporated draft animals, among other livestock, as important members of the Sterling community and
farm projects were born. Decades later, Sterling became (and
remains) the only institution in the United States to offer a Draft
Animal Power Systems minor.
The farm further cemented the importance of plain hard work
as a cornerstone of the Sterling curriculum, and Ted’s leadership brought not only farm chores but dish and dorm chores
– the trifecta that all alums through present day remember.
This commitment to work shaped the College’s identity which
was formalized in 1999 when Sterling officially joined the Work
College Consortium.
In 1965 came the advent of Winter Expedition, a transformational adventure entailing three nights of winter camping and a
touchstone of the Bounder experience that was led by Ted and
the faculty’s commitment to the Outward Bound model. From
a 1971 paper by Joseph R. Schulze, “One of the most dramatic
examples of Outward Bound-related curriculum is to be found
at the Sterling School in Vermont. The physical education program largely centers around training in wilderness skills. Initiative tests, hikes, shelter and fire building, winter camping and
rescue [which] form a large part of their athletic program.” In
2018 Sterling added an Expedition to the Fall semester, and in
December 2021 the 56th Winter Expedition occurred.
In a 2018 event hosted by the Craftsbury Historical Society,
Ted spoke not only of the attributes that made Sterling unique
but also emphasized the importance of the classical liberal arts
education components.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, private preparatory schools
were under extreme competition in the market, Sterling being
no exception. Ted and others hosted Lord Mountbatten regarding a possible joining of forces with United World Colleges.
When that deal fell through, Ted was credited with the leadership that enabled the school to reimagine itself through short
courses as Sterling Institute which proved to be a pivotal shift
with regard to curriculum and student demographics and subsequently laid the groundwork for the AA program.
Ted is quoted in 1971 saying, “Our study of conservation is more
than just a survey. We try to integrate conservation leadership
into our total academic program. We study the history of conservation, the use of public media and what the available resources are for solving some of our environmental problems.
This is our reason for being. We have to offer something different from the public schools. I think we have a chance to offer
something valuable.” Ted was right.