Michael Blake, Associate Director of Instructional Services at the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (OWHL), will retire at the end of this academic year, marking the close of a long career in education and over two decades of service to Andover. First arriving on campus in 2003, Blake quickly became an important presence in the OWHL and the Andover Community.
For Blake, retirement opens a new chapter, one still rooted in education, community, and Andover. The joy Blake found in teaching and in witnessing how students flourish over time had ultimately attracted him to Andover. For him, education was more than research skills and academic achievements, it was about building lasting human connections.
“What I really liked about all of my previous jobs was the teaching aspects of students… I think the real impetus behind all of this secondary career was having students who are working their way through their lives and watching them grow. Now my [old] advisees are having their own kids and struggles and sending their kids to us. It’s a nice circular life,” said Blake.
To Camille Torres Hoven, Library Director of the OWHL, Blake has been more than just a part of the Andover community, he has been a core member of multiple departments, roles, and facets of campus life. From science librarian to dance instructor, Blake’s legacy, as described by Torres Hoven, lies in his intentions to make each student feel seen at this school.
“He is dedicated to making sure every student feels welcome at the library and at PA. He has been an advisor, an [Equity, Balance, and Inclusion] EBI instructor, taught dance classes in the dance department, a librarian for the sciences, and the best person to eat lunch with in his twenty years at PA. It’s not just being here that matters, but that he has embraced what it means to reach every person and every corner at this school,” wrote Torres Hoven in an email to The Phillipian.
Torres Hoven continued, “He has been a constant in the library through lots of changes! I think that has made his impact and influence felt by the whole community as staffing has changed a lot. Everyone knows that you can depend on Mr. Blake and that he remembers everything and everyone!”
Blake’s influence extended beyond his official roles. As both an educator and mentor, he has witnessed and helped shape the ways Andover has grown over the years. Reflecting on his time at Andover, Blake emphasized the school’s shifting culture of caring for one another, as well as the importance of slowing down, disconnecting from screens, and reconnecting with the wonders the world has around us.
“We have become more adept at knowing when students need help. We have become more aware of how the outside world influences us. We have become more supportive of each other and more empathetic,” said Blake.
Blake continued, “It would be nice to talk more about how to create spaces that are more fun without technology… Just last Friday, we were down in Abbot Learning Garden digging holes, and I had to teach two kids how to dig a hole… We’ve lost this connection to the land. We’ve lost this connection to our environment, and if we continue to work in electronics, then we aren’t going to get the touchy-feeliness of who we are as human [beings.]”
The true measure of education isn’t found in college acceptance letters, but in the habits students have adopted whilst studying at Andover. Blake sees value not just in where students go next, but in how they’ve learned to think, change, and navigate an increasingly multifaceted world.
“An Andover student will get into a college. It might not be their first pick, their second pick, [or] their third pick, but they are still going to get a good education wherever they go because they have learned how to learn and how to be in a world that is very diverse, which isn’t always true for other high school kids,” said Blake.
As he looks ahead, Blake leaves students with the same advice that has guided his own winding, fulfilling career, which is to stay open. His path, from toxicology labs at Shell Oil Company to the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University, was not shaped by rigid paths, but by his willingness to follow unexpected opportunities, no matter where they led.
“One of the things that I would say about any student embarking on a career is that you need to embrace the opportunities that come along because you might think you want to be in a certain career, but your skills may end up better suited in another. I’ve always opened those doors as I’ve gone through my career,” said Blake.
