Deac Etherington , the new head of school at Green Fields Country Day School, builds relationships with students by spending lunchtime talking with them.

Jim Davis / Arizona Daily Star

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When Deac Etherington became Green Fields Country Day School's new head of school this year, students gained not only a new administrator, but also a friend.

"He seems interested in everything we have to say," said Julie Seltzer, 16, a high school junior in her third year at the school, 6000 N. Camino de la Tierra.

Seltzer is part of a group of Green Fields juniors and seniors Etherington talks with at lunch about poetry and their other interests.

"I really love being at a school where I can leave my office and join a bunch of seniors," said Etherington, 49.

He values the students' individualism and hopes the college preparatory school will help cultivate their unique growth. Green Fields has 196 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

"We realize that all the blossoms are going to be very different from each other," Etherington says.

His respect for individuality is evident in the new Senior Masterwork program, which allows Green Fields seniors to embark on a year-long project of their choice.

Though school started only Aug. 16, many seniors already have a good idea about what they want to do their projects on, and their ideas are just as diverse as the students are.

Aspiring artist William Elizondo, 18, plans to make an art show featuring both his visual art and the music he composes on guitar, sitar and piano.

Elizondo, who has been at Green Fields for six years, hopes to attend art school after graduation.

Wyatt Schaffner, 17, plans to put together an improvisational comedy troupe. Caitlin Marsh, 17, wants to study and practice Buddhism for her masterwork.

The Senior Masterwork program "reflects the place that Green Fields is. (The school) has the imagination and is small enough to embrace innovation," Etherington said.

Back when he was a student at the Hammonasset School in Madison, Conn., Etherington's 10th-grade English class helped him develop a lifelong interest, just as he is now helping students at Green Fields.

He can still remember the teacher's words: "You have a gift for writing, so no matter what happens, don't forget that."

Etherington was struggling with dyslexia at the time and the notion that he had a way with words was foreign to him.

"I never thought I had a gift. He gave me a seed of confidence," Etherington said.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in history from Connecticut College and a master's degree in liberal studies with a focus on literature from Wesleyan University, Etherington became an upper-school English teacher at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., the Hammonasset School and eventually Green Fields.

As a teacher, he was determined to never lose track of his roots as a struggling student.

"When I was in front of the class teaching English, I wanted to be able to spot the student in the back of the class that I was," Etherington said.

From his days as a student at Hammonasset to his time as an English teacher and then college guidance director at Green Fields, Etherington has a long history of private education.

"He knows how Green Fields works — how small it is, how everyone knows everyone personally by name," said junior Jason Spector, 17.

The students value Etherington's understanding of the school and of them.

"I think it's really rare that a headmaster evokes both the spirit of the school and the students. We haven't had a headmaster like this in six years," Schaffner said.

Or as Carlos Nugent, 16, sums up Etherington: "He rocks."