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From the Head of School (December 2007)
You may recall that on December 10th, we experienced a very
light snowfall, the first of the season. At some point that
afternoon, I found myself staring through my office window,
watching Teacher Peter lead a group of fifth grade students
on a walk. I imagine that Peter was pointing to plants, insects,
and birds, describing their characteristics so that students
might identify any of these things on their own someday. When
I asked Peter about the walk the next day, he told me he didn’t
want his students to miss the chance to walk in the snow.
Two former students who also walked with Peter are Princeton
University students. One, Danielle P., class of 2007, rowed
with the crew team, and I see on the university’s website
that she was awarded a fellowship this past summer based on
her application entitled (get ready): Saccharomyces cervisiae
DNA Mismatch Repair and MSH2 Regulation in Response to DNA
Damaging Agents: Identification of Regulatory Promoter Elements
and Transcription Factors. I don’t know what it is either;
I do know that it has something to do with her major, Molecular
Biology.
The other is current Princeton student Jessica K. Jessica
is a pole vaulter on the track team and is majoring in a kind
of physics with which I am not familiar. She visited school
earlier this year and was excited to tell me about the track
teams’ trip to China to compete against Chinese athletes
from several of that country’s important sports universities.
She was accompanied on her visit to Friends School by her
boyfriend (nice guy) who was from France.
I am always struck by the impact that a Friends School teacher
can have on our students. In part, it’s about what they’ve
studied and know. More importantly, it’s about sharing
that knowledge person to person with our students. We all
share with them the excitement we feel about Shakespeare,
or Spanish language, or geology and botany, or yoga, or mathematics.
And because Quakers so deeply value the divine spark within
all young people, the most important task of every teacher
at our school is to develop a deeply respectful relationship
with their students’ hearts and minds.
I don’t know if your child will be a Princeton student
someday. I do know, however, that they will have a walk, like
Jessica and Danielle before them, with Teacher Peter in the
snow. They will know what it feels like to develop healthy
relationships with their teachers that go beyond the numbers;
relationships that will inspire future academic achievement,
and instill within them the confidence to know that they can
succeed.
From the Principal (February 2008)
A Community of Hope
When the vision committee of board members,
administrators, and teachers met to create a new vision statement,
the core ingredients of FSMH were expressed. Hope was foremost.
Hope is defined by Wikipedia as “a belief in a positive
outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s
life.”
Emily Dickinson writes “Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul, and sings the tunes without the
words and never stops at all.”
In the Bible, Paul lists hope as one of the three central
virtues (faith, hope, and love) of Christianity.
During a Meeting for Worship, fourth grade student Gianna
Campanelli spoke about the importance of serving others. She
concluded with, “When we help other people, we give
them hope.” Although Gianna is of a young age, she recognizes
the despair in those less fortunate. She understands the significance
of hope in our lives.
Children are a natural expression of hope. They seem to come
packaged with a positive outlook on life; filled with anticipation
of greater things. Parents also dream of great accomplishments
of their offspring - an impressive piano recital, a homerun
to win the Little League game, or an exemplary report card
with glowing teacher comments. Teachers see potential in their
students and guide them as the students discover it in themselves.
Inspiring children to believe that everything is possible
and to pursue their dreams are central components of a Friends
School education.
I conclude with a short, perhaps familiar, story of The Two
Wolves--
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle
that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle
is between two “wolves” inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,
greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority,
lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth,
compassion, and faith.
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked
his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
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