Pedro Alvarez ’05 to Join HM as Director of Wellness
Pedro Alvarez, former Major League Baseball player and member of the Class of 2005, will join the Horace Mann School faculty as the institution's first Director of Wellness.
Pedro Alvarez, pictured here with his family and Matt Russo, will join the HM faculty as Director of Wellness for the 2024-2025 academic year. (Photo: Barry Mason)
The newly created position will empower Alvarez to design and grow a physical fitness conditioning program for students and adult employees that also focuses on optimal nutrition and coping with the mental challenges of participating in sports and keeping fit.
Alvarez has spent the last four years with the Milwaukee Brewers advising players on behavioral and cognitive strategies, nutrition, and fitness training, all aimed at optimizing physical performance. He is extremely qualified within the field of fitness training and has considerable experience with mental strategies in sports competition. Pedro also brings with him a network of connections to youth educators and trainers of elite athletes.
The experience and expertise Alvarez brings to the table is substantial. As Director of Athletics Matt Russo reflected, “The exciting thing is that Pedro is perfectly suited for this brand new position. He is eager to help support the physical and psychological needs of our students and is already developing projections for how the program will evolve in the short and long term to serve our N through 12 population. By joining HM as a faculty member, his life is really coming full circle.”
At Alvarez’s recommendation, HM is investing in new training equipment such as the Vertimax, a machine that athletes of all levels use to increase their speed, power, and vertical jump. In addition, changes are being made to the current layout of the Simon Family Fitness Center to maximize the amount of floor space for individual training. Cutting-edge training approaches like hacking the kinetic chain, traditionally used to teach baseball pitchers how to be more efficient in their movement, will be incorporated into the strength and flexibility conditioning program.
As Russo explained, “Here at HM we often wrestle with a culture of perfectionism, so our students sometimes have difficulty coping with failure. Since failure in sports is inevitable – no matter what the sport or whatever the level – we think it makes perfect sense to teach students how to deal with failure, learn simple mental exercises that can maximize athletic performance, and foster a supportive team culture.”
It is unusual for an independent N-12 school offer programs in wellness, nutrition, and physical conditioning. As Russo said, “We are the only high school I am aware of that is venturing into this area. But I wouldn’t be surprised if our peer schools five years from now take the same direction.”
Alvarez holds an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in medicine, health, and society. He and his wife, Keli, live in New Jersey with their two young daughters.