John Fritz '20

John Fritz '20 is all in at Brooks. All in to his academics; all in to the three sports he plays at the school; all in to Brooks itself. He's far from the loudest, most gregarious Brooksian walking Main Street, but he seems noticeably at ease in all corners of the school.

Fritz isn't new to independent boarding schools, by any measure. His parents, both boarding school faculty, raised him on the campus of St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Del., before moving the family north to Phillips Academy Andover. He's tuned in to the bonds, the relationships, the community that make an independent schoolwork. The importance those bonds played in his early life, Fritz says, made choosing to attend Brooks an easy call.

"I've always known being a faculty kid," he says. "I've always known the students, and I think it's easier to do that at a smaller school than at a larger school." He recalls that, when he was applying to schools, Brooks wasn't initially one of his top choices. His parents pushed him to visit; he's glad he did. "When I got to campus," he says, "it was totally different. I had a great tour with Gus Hoffman '18." His interest piqued, Fritz ended up attending the school's revisit day that spring, and it was memorable.

"I really had a great revisit day," he says. "I was paired with [former senior prefect] Jason Gold '18, and that was the day I knew I wanted to come to Brooks. That was the day that Brooks shone through. Brooks felt like a fun school. That's the vibe I got from School Meeting on revisit day. I thought maybe I wanted to go to a larger school; but then Jason, it seemed like he knew everyone by name on Main Street, and they knew him by name, and I thought that was pretty cool." Brooks, Fritz says, has measured up to his expectations: It's a small community, he says, one in which he knows seemingly everyone, and one that is comfortable, close and inviting, beyond the students and faculty that he shares classes with.

This emphasis on community has driven Fritz to several leadership positions at Brooks. The incoming school prefect and Community Activities prefect has previously worked as an admission prefect and as an alumni ambassador. He's also a leader for Thorne House, his dorm. All these positions, Fritz says, relate back to his appreciation for and drive to show off the close Brooks community he was initially attracted to: He gets to show the school to prospective students; he gets to connect with the school's young alumni; he gets to develop and facilitate weekend activities for the entire student body; and, he gets to help create and foster the bonds and friendships in his dorm. Despite living nearby, he insisted on boarding, saying "I love living with all my friends, and I definitely want to be at school as much as I can."

Fritz's leadership and strong appreciation of the Brooks community show through in his contributions to Brooks's athletics. He's a three-sport athlete at Brooks. He's a wide receiver, defensive back and incoming captain for the 1st football team; he plays center for the boys 1st hockey team; and he's an outfielder, pitcher and two-year captain for the 1st baseball team. He picked up an All-ISL Honorable Mention nod in football last fall and was named to the All-ISL team in baseball this spring.

Baseball is Fritz's primary sport. He loves the sport and cites memories from his childhood of playing on a team coached by his father. "I was on a great team," he says. "It was a blast. And then getting here, there's just nothing better than Brooks in the spring. On those beautiful days, we always seem to have students at our games. Kids carry couches out to the field from Chace House to sit and watch; there's country music playing on our speakers; it's such a fun atmosphere to be a part of and to play in."

Fritz has watched the baseball program evolve as he's found his place in it. He made the 1st team as a third-former, and he recalls "being the little brother to everyone." Fritz was the only underclassman on the team, he says, and he remembers the entire team begging the office of student affairs each Friday to give him special permission (which, he says, was always granted) to drive with his teammates to Chipotle for a team dinner.

"It was cool being kind of the little brother for a while," he says, "but this year it was totally different. When I was younger, the team was top-loaded with a lot of fifth- and sixth-formers. This year, we had one sixth-former, and next year, we'll have three. It's been a transition learning how to be that team. Being a captain as a fifth-former, also, I've had to learn how to be a little more of a leader. That said, we have kids in our program who care so much about this team, and we have a great culture."

Being a two-year captain, Fritz says, has its advantages. "I learned this year that I have to hold myself in a different way on the field," he says. "It's nice being a two-year captain because you have that first year to reflect on. Next year, I'll be able to meet with [head coach Andy] Campbell, with our assistant coaches, with whomever else is named captain, and we'll be able to talk about what went well, what didn't go well, and we'll have a whole year to do it over again. That will be really nice."

Fritz has another goal for his sixth-form year: To step back, he says, and to appreciate the conclusion of his time at Brooks while it's happening. "This year, I got swamped by life a lot," he admits. "I had some hard classes, and practice and a bunch of other stuff going on. Next year, my last year, I want to enjoy the moment a little bit more than I did this year. I definitely want to find a way to just take it all in."