Thanksgiving Assembly Talk

November 20^th 2009

Our school has a terrific tradition of reflecting on themes related to Thanksgiving during this assembly, and I am honored to continue that tradition today. Just as importantly, Mrs Devino and our talented students will send us off humming, and with our eyes and ears somehow a bit closer to vacation, if not a bit closer to heaven.

When I think about Thanksgiving I think about the double-helix of family and gratitude… . and those combined thoughts, especially this time of year, usually lead me to thinking about my grandfather. He was born in 1900, so I always knew how old he was. His parents named him Harry, and when his mom shook the President’s hand at a whistle stop tour shortly before he was born they chose his middle name – McKinley. His grandparents were first generation from Germany. They had been coal miners like their parents, and they came to the promised land called America and settled in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, because they could continue to be coal miners there, and because the land reminded them just enough of the place they left in Germany.

My grandfather was planning to be a coal miner because that’s what his family did since they could remember – they were big, hearty, hard working people who enjoyed life and were appreciative that they had jobs at all. He said that was just what you did in Pottsville, you worked in the mines, and he really did not think much of it either way.

That was his plan,that was his expectation, except for one thing – he had a passion for baseball, he loved the game and played it every spare moment he could. He was a modest man, and when he told me he was pretty good at, I just got the feeling that meant something.

He was playing for the Pottsville town baseball team late in his high school years, and a man named Mr. Clothier was in the stands, saw him play, found him after the game, and said if you go play baseball for my college, I’ll pay your way. My grandfather told me he wanted to say to the man “what is college” but he knew enough about the idea of college, and did not want to seem dumb to this man who was talking with him about college, so instead he said “what college?” and the man said a place called Swarthmore. Mr. Clothier said it was only 100 miles away, that he could get there in an afternoon train ride, and reiterated that he would pay the tuition if he went to Swarthmore and played baseball.

So my grandfather went home to talk to his parents about it. His parents had not heard of Swarthmore Pennsylvania, let alone Swarthmore College, but said if he should give it a try if he wanted to – the coal mines, they said, would always be there for him.

He went to college, he loved it, and it changed his life because it changed his horizons – it changed, in the language of one of our school values, where he was aiming with his life. No one in his family went to college before him – everyone in his family has gone to college since.

These scenes have played out time and time again in a black and white movie in my mind – in the movie, Mr. Clothier looks something like Mr. Holland, and my grandfather looks something like a teenage Mr. Hastings.

It turned out he loved chemistry at Swarthmore – he said it just fired him up – he found a job as a chief chemist for a company and when the great depression hit in 1929 he was the only one on his block who kept a job. He was devoted to his company – worked there his entire life. It was a time when companies returned the loyalty and, if you were fortunate enough, you would retire from the place where you started with a big party and a gold watch as a symbol of gratitude for the 30 or more years of work.

Again, I can play the story out like a movie – he had a chemistry teacher at Swarthmore who looks like Mr. Bradley, and the baseball coach looks like Doc Sanford, and his best friends – the ones he introduced me to at his retirement community – look like . . . well, you can fill it in from there.

My grandfather loved telling the story to me about the meaning of Mr. Clothier in his life, and I now know he also used the story to have me understand the incredible, time-traveling power of what it means to help someone else. He told me the story with greater detail as I got older – he never had an ounce of boasting about himself, rather he always spoke of his incredible good fortune, and wanted me to know that I had the ability to do the same thing as this man I never met, but whose name was on a huge department store in Philadelphia, called Strawbridge & Clothier – which, by the way, was bought by Macy’s in 1999 and, best I can tell, is no longer in existence.

And so I want to be bold enough, and clear enough, to have you do some specific thinking over Thanksgiving – I want you to be aware of two things, and each bit of awareness has a responsibility that comes with it.

First – there are Mr. Clothiers in our life in 2009, and I urge you to be aware of who they are. Thanksgiving is simply the perfect time to reflect on, and be grateful for, people who have helped us. Not every story needs to be dramatic, but if you are not aware of your Mr. Clothiers – those who offered inspiration, those who saw something in you and had faith in you, those who encouraged you to stretch and aim high - you won’t know how you have grown from their kindness, and you will miss out on how their encouragement keeps echoing in your life.

Why does knowing the Mr. Clothiers in your life matter? The answer connects to my second bit of homework.

Each of us has the ability to do for someone what Mr. Clothier did for my grandfather, and start that phenomenal, time traveling arc of opportunity for someone else. Again, it does not have to be dramatic – in some ways, the smallest gestures have the capacity to be the most meaningful . . . but you just never know. So I would ask you to find a way to help someone by recognizing a talent they have, and encouraging them to pursue it.

Harry McKinley Sellers left me his gold watch, and I know he wanted me to have it for the stories it could tell, and for whatever ability his grandchildren may have to inspire others to think about the way a kind act can travel across time . . . Have a terrific Thanksgiving.

Admission Open House

Thought you might enjoy seeing the notes from my welcoming talk at our exceptionally well attended Admission Open House today.

* * * * *

Good afternoon. My name is Craig Sellers, I am in my third year as the Head of School here at Derryfield, and I am also a parent in our school.

I want to start by saying, on behalf of our faculty and staff how much we respect the idea that you are here researching – doing your homework – about your own or your child’s education. Making that decision is a process that can only benefit from taking the time to be here today, to learn, and to consider how Derryfield can be an integral part of your life as a student, or your life as a parents, as well as the life of your family, for the next several years. So thank you, once again, for being here.

I am here to give an elevator speech of sorts, but I will confess that I plan to stop at three floors. Here is my premise:

Any school that thrives in the next ten years will have a challenging 21st century curriculum that is both global and green, delivered by an inspiring faculty who know and care deeply for their students. Friends, the Derryfield School is thriving, and you will see that for your self today.

So what does Derryfield mean by a challenging 21st century curriculum?

First Floor: Well I think it means a lot of things, but one simple idea is whether students are having fun – that might surprise you, but kids actually enjoying their work means they are engaged, understand its relevance, understand its meaning in their life, understand that it matters and that it actually has value both now and in the future. A sense of enjoyment and excitement are also prerequisites for gratitude – that is, the gratitude our community has for having access to a Derryfield education in the first place.

This does not mean every student looks forward to every Latin Test or US History test, but there is no denying that a 6th grader, for instance, will have a blast in our Circus curriculum – but they will also learn lessons about agility, hand-eye, Performance, trusting one another, and what it means to be a part of a team. Our students’ learning is meaningful and useful, it brings them joy, and it gives families wonderful conversation topics for the diner table.

Second Floor - you will find a school that is committed to thinking globally, and with an awareness of sustainabiity. I am talking about exciting trips and experiences, but I am also talking about a mindset that understands a service project in downtown Manchester, or building Habitat housing in West Virginia, have global implications. As our alumnus Gary Hirshberg told us, there really is no “away” anymore – as in, we simply send our trash “Away” – and our curriculum embeds that essential understanding in a variety of ways across grades and subjects. Our children are going into an increasingly inter-connected world, and our curriculum embraces that vision.

Third Floor: today you will meet our exceptional faculty. Since its founding Derryfield has understood that the faculty are the center of our program. It is fantastic to have a new Turf Field, for instance, but I think it even more important that you get to know members of our Athletics Department – our coaches – whose devotion to students, not to mention their credentials, will simply astonish you. I want you to be impressed with our facilities, but we know our priorities are with our people, our Teachers – they are the ones who will inspire you, and they are the ones who motivate our alumni to come back for homecoming year after year. Our faculty is simply sensational, and today you will begin to get an understanding of why they are the soul of our school.

To summarize:

First floor – a 21st century curriculum;

Second Floor - A global mindset;

Third Floor – An inspiring faculty who are the soul of our school.

We have arrived at our destination, at least for now, and I will ask Allison Price to help you continue on your journey today.

Thank you for being here, enjoy your day.

CNS

Facing History

November 4th 2009

Today I attended a workshop hosted by teachers from Facing History and Ourselves on the topic of “Differences Among Us: Examining Perceptions, Stereotypes and Homophobia.” The workshop opened with the question “What are the experiences of students who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered in our schools?”

Derryfield has made improvements in this area, and I continue to think we can do better. I am certain that our adult employees are in unity around the need to create a safe environment for students to express themselves and be themselves, and I am also clear that students are routinely reminded that the world can be a difficult place for those who challenge convention.

One of the guiding questions for the day was “What impact do deeply held stereotypes and rigid gender enforcement have on our lives?” A brief, current film had kids explaining how it was not particularly safe for boys to express too much emotion, for instance, or for girls to be too tough or confrontational. The kids spoke plainly in expressing their sense of the “rules” around their social lives. The adults don’t necessarily see it, but for the kids it is pretty simple – step outside the hidden lines they see clearly, and risk the consequences.

Still, the workshop reminded me of a hopeful moment that I had my first year at Derryfield. I had been to one or two hockey games before I realized that girls were on the team (clearly I am not proud of that delayed observation – the ponytails ultimately gave it away!). In fact, the girls were some of the best players on the team. In talking with the players back on campus, neither the boys nor the girls seemed to think anything of it. You could tell that, from their point-of-view, it was an issue that spoke to my generation, and was nothing they seemed particularly conversation-worthy.

I found this to be incredibly hopeful. Perhaps not unlike my ability simply to presume that women can (and, therefore, always did) vote, the students were a part of a new world that presumed equality in this way. Their lack of guile was refreshing, and left me to dream about all the progress to come.

At the end of the day, we discussed the following poem by James Berry -

What Do We Do with a Variation?

What do we do with a difference?
Do we stand and discuss its oddity
Or do we ignore it?

Do we shut our eyes to it
or do we poke it with a stick?
Do we clobber it to death?

Do we move around it in rage
and enlist the rage of others?
Do we will it to go away?

Do we look at it in awe
or purely wonderment?
Do we work for it to disappear?

Do we pass it stealthily
Or change route away from it?
Do we will it to become like ourselves?

What do we do with a difference?
Do we communicate to it,
let application acknowledge it
for barriers to fall down?