Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Kathi Bierwirth '81

At the end of this year, Kathi (Frost) Bierwirth ’81 will retire from Burr and Burton Academy after nearly 40 years of teaching, coaching, leading and supporting students. Kathi has the rare gift of being a person who always knew that she wanted to make Burr and Burton her life’s work. 

Drawing on the incredible support and encouragement she enjoyed as a student of Burr and Burton when she graduated in 1981, Kathi knew two things: that athletics and serving students at Burr and Burton would forever be a part of her future.

A three-sport varsity athlete and overall “involved” student at Burr and Burton, Kathi went on to earn her undergraduate degree in physical education and health from Castleton University, where she competed on the basketball team. She then went on to earn her master’s degree in education from the University of New England.  

She began her career at Burr and Burton as a physical education teacher and went on to teach phys ed, health, general math, and science for 15 years, after which she became Burr and Burton’s first female Athletic Director, a position she held for 16 years. Kathi retires this year after spending the last eight years as the Director of the Target Program, an alternative education program where students receive individualized instruction and support.

Kathi is a third-generation Burr and Burton graduate. Her mother, Sandra Parker Frost, graduated from Burr and Burton in 1956, and her grandmother Barbara Hulsberg graduated in 1931. Kathi’s husband Don graduated in 1982, and their daughter Lindsay Bierwirth Sherman graduated in 2009. 

In a recent conversation, we talked our way through what it was like growing up as a fiercely competitive athlete in the years after Title IX (1972), how building a team and fostering community is a ubiquitous goal for all of us working at Burr and Burton, and what the future holds - both for her and for BBA. Whether it is as a coach or a teacher, or as an Athletic Director or Target Director, Kathi’s core belief is to foster inclusivity by creating creative ways for each student to access learning. 

I always had success in athletics. I wasn’t a huge classroom student - I did fine, but I was an average student. I always felt that I made connections with coaches and with other kids while participating in athletics. That was huge for me. In February 1978 when I was a freshman, I traveled to Poland to play basketball with our Burr and Burton team. Our basketball coach, Harvey Dorman, worked closely with our state representatives to help organize this trip. We went for two weeks, and that was right after they were letting people back into the country (loosening the effects of communism). We were in Warsaw and Raków, and we went up to the mountains. Here I was, 14 years old, and I had never traveled out of the country, and now I was in Poland playing basketball! 

During our 1979-1980 basketball season, that’s when our team won the first-ever women’s state championship for Burr and Burton, many of the players on the team were the same group of people that I traveled to Poland with as a freshman, so that was an amazing experience. During Covid, we had a Poland Zoom reunion. That team and basketball were such a big part of my life in high school. 

Well, Eleanor Pfeil was my field hockey coach and also my phys ed teacher, so she was the one who made me think that I wanted to be a phys ed teacher. Dave Blake was my softball coach, and he was also one of my history teachers, so he also had a role in shaping who I wanted to be and why I wanted to coach. Harvey Dorfman was my basketball coach, and he helped shape me as an athlete and helped me see how basketball could be a part of my life after high school. And, John Wright had a huge influence. When I started teaching here, I still couldn’t call him John. It was always Mr. Wright for many, many years because I respected him so much. And, also when I started teaching here, Steve Houghton was my go-to person and mentor. He really helped me through my first few years, because we were teaching phys ed together. 

After college, I applied for two jobs. I interviewed at Burr and Burton to teach phys ed and health. I got the job here and decided I didn’t care to pursue the other one. Burr and Burton was my home. I taught for 15 years, and then I was Steve Houghton’s assistant athletic director for two years. When he stepped down, I was offered that position, and I was athletic director for 16 years. I think something I’m really proud of is the large intramural program I ran. We’d offer floor hockey and volleyball between seasons. I think of the floor hockey finals, which we’d do in front of the whole school at Monday's assembly. We’d have 20 kids out there who aren’t necessarily the athletes you’d see on the field or the court, but they were out there just giving it their all and wearing their championship T-shirts when it was over. I felt like we needed to provide opportunities for all students to explore athletics, make a connection, and find their place at Burr and Burton. And, I’m also so proud of putting the right people in the right positions to lead the teams that helped us win 74 state championships while I was the AD. 

When Jeff Houghton (founding Target Director) retired, I knew that I would be interested in that job. I wanted to get back to being more connected, investing in relationships with kids, and trying to make a difference in their lives. Target is a place that kids can call home - they feel comfortable here. They’ll share stories, ask questions and continue to find their success. And, we work to do whatever we can to make them feel like this is a safe place for them. We actually don’t run into many attendance issues here because they want to be here. It is important to us (Target teachers) to know them personally - are they an athlete? Do they have a job? What are their interests outside of school? We can be there for them in these ways because it’s a small community.

I think as Target Director, I’m proud of establishing traditions, like Thanksgiving dinner, taking them to New York City and Boston and end-of-year senior barbecue and awards. My biggest accomplishments come from seeing kids from where they started with us to where they end with us - that’s a huge accomplishment. 

In elementary school, I had a teacher, Margaret Connor, who was working hard for equal rights. In my younger years, there was no softball for girls. So, she pushed and she pushed because they wouldn’t let us play baseball. So on her own, she said, ‘We need to offer something for these young girls to play.’ So it started with youth softball as a summer league in Manchester. When I was Athletic Director, I worked to balance the number of sports we offered for males and females. I looked at budgets and made sure that they balanced out between males and females. And, if there were two paid assistants for a sport for males, then I made sure that there were two paid assistants for the same sport for females. When I first started teaching here, they still had these one-piece, zip-up phys ed suits for girls. The boys wore shorts and t-shirts, but the girls had to wear these terrible suits. I thought, ‘This just isn’t right.’ Those things are not flattering! I can’t expect the girls to put them on. So, that was one of the first things that I did - I got rid of them, and we bought shorts and t-shirts for the girls too. I was the first female Athletic Director at Burr and Burton and one of only a few in the state. It was a very male-dominated career. I had good relationships with the other AD’s because they may have known me from high school, or when I was the assistant AD. But, it was still a good ‘ol boys club. 

My grandsons are seven and four, and I would love if they would have the opportunity to come to Burr and Burton in the future. I feel like we have such a strong sense of community here, and I would love for them to be able to be a part of that. I hope that Burr and Burton keeps that sense of community and appreciates all of the different types of alumni who come through the school. This place has been so special to me for so long, and I would love for that to continue for many others. That feeling of community is who we are.