ABSTRACT
My first mentor, David Mallery, was a master fire builder and his annual by-invitation-only Westtown Seminar on Teaching—Westtown for short—was his masterwork. Luckily, I attended this one-week gathering following my second year of teaching at Sidwell Friends. The first day we participated in Project Adventure outdoor challenges. Soon we were all being introduced to aikido, theater games, and inclusive language. The experience was so energizing that newfound friends and I discussed its potential to forestall burnout for some of our colleagues. However, when we looked around, we saw no evidence of it. David had only invited educators who sparkled.
