Written by Brett Comstock
Now that we have heard from the 2024 Students of the Year, it is time we heard from the student it started with. Twenty-five years ago, in 1999, the first Student of the Year award was given to Mr. Dave Rennard. We sent Dave some questions to mull over so he could reflect on his time at Central and what life has been like since his time at CHS. Read on to catch up with Dave and hear about the life of the first Student of the Year in his own words.
First, what stands out to you, 25 years later, about your time at Central? Any classes, clubs, teachers, etc., that you have any fond memories of?
Yes! Central provided terrific experiences – great ways to meet friends and try new things. My Central experience was awesome and pivotal to who I am today. I still run – now as a hobby rather than as a cross-country team member – and have been enjoying this as a method of exploring new places since my first run as a freshman at Central. Now my runs are through woodland trails close to my house or when I’m travelling on a work trip; this is a great way to see a new place. I have great memories of drama – the school musical, play, debate and speech team, and Road Show. These were formative productions for many of us; my co-star in the musical is now a Hollywood writer/producer! A few months ago, my kids were studying ancient Rome in school and I was waxing nostalgic about the Junior Classical League and Rita Ryan’s Latin class. Similarly, there are still songs that whisk me back to Mr. Wilger’s band class. And I draw on Mr. Waterman’s Enrichment Math class routinely to challenge my kids at dinner.
I understand that you went to Harvard after you graduated from Central – impressive! All I could find in my cursory research on your time there was that you started the Harvard Tetris Society, you conducted some research on the campus showers, and you worked for the Resource Efficiency Program. Tell me more! What was your major? What other extracurricular activities did you participate in? How do you feel that Central prepared you for your time in undergrad? Did your classes in high school influence what you chose to study? Did you go in thinking you would do one thing, just to end up on a totally different path?
My concentration at Central was chemistry and physics. I chose this because I wanted to study philosophy and math, and figured physics was the perfect combination of those subjects. But what I found was I was most interested in learning as much as I could. I took a variety of courses on far-flung topics that I were way out of my field of concentration, like Fairytales and Children’s Stories, Medieval Literature, Metaphysics, Expository Writing, etc. Central whet my appetite for learning about lots of things, and college was a great place to continue that interest even as I started to focus on science.
My interest in drama developed at Central. I joined On Thin Ice, an Improv Comedy Troupe. I realized early that I couldn’t be a stand-up comedian because I don’t like telling the same joke more than once, but I love surrounding myself with funny people! My humor isn’t for everyone, but I think if my wife didn’t at least get my jokes (even if she doesn’t always laugh), it probably wouldn’t have worked out.
The Resource Efficiency Program started in my senior year, though I wish it had started earlier. It was a great project to help students think about energy, resource conservation, and to gain some practical experience in energy transition. I think we were paid for this, which was awesome; my other major campus job was working at the undergrad library.
In the summers, I worked with the summer school program and did research in the Physics Department.
Central was great preparation. I was thrown into campus with kids from all over, including prep schools, private schools, boarding programs, international schools. Yet you could take kids from my classes at Central and drop them right in. I would say the Central tradition of essay-writing and English narrative analysis is far and away better preparation than what most kids get before they walk into the door at Harvard. I pursued a lot of math and science in both schools and felt the education continued seamlessly.
Once you graduated from Harvard, what did you do next? Did you pursue more education, or did you go straight into work? Did Central have any influence?
My first year out of college was a sort of working gap year. I went abroad but got a job teaching high school math in an international school in Perth, Australia. It was a great place to live, and I had to leave after the first year for fear that I would never leave if I lingered much longer. As far as Central having an influence…. well, I started an AP Calculus program at the school and reached out to my Central teacher Mrs. Kovarik for her syllabus and tips on how to construct the course. So yes! Even beyond choosing to re-enter a high school environment as my first job after college, Central directly influenced how that went.
After that, I went back to school. Probably for too long. I discovered my passion was energy and the environment, something we lacked terms for back then but which we now call energy transition. I have spent the last 20 years in this discipline.
What are you up to now? Are you in a different part of the country? What do you do for work? Do you keep in touch with any of your old classmates or teachers from Central? Have you been back to visit? Any personal or professional accomplishments you’d like to share?
I live in England now. We have been here about six years and just became British citizens. “We” is my family of five – three young very entertaining boys and my lovely wife.
Since graduating from high school, I’ve spent about half of the past 25 years living overseas in Australia, Italy, Canada, and England. I do keep up with a few friends from Central, but not as many people as I wish. I think living far away has made it more difficult, but I’d welcome any long-lost friends to reach out. I don’t think I’ve been to Central for over a decade, but my brother-in-law now is a teacher there and I’d love to come visit the next chance I get.
As for my professional life, I work with a management consultancy called Bain & Company. I support companies managing energy transition, exploring how to grow their low carbon businesses and improve their legacy operations.
Thank you for catching up with us, Dave!
