Good morning and welcome to October, welcome to The Derryfield School, and welcome to our Grandparents & Special Friends Day. My name is Craig Sellers and I have the honor of starting our Assembly today.
I would first like to thank our faculty & staff for working to make this day so uplifting and so inviting to you, our guests.
Thank you, faculty, for inspiring not just one generation but several generations of students this morning.
Next, thanks to the wonderful volunteers of our PFA led by Patricia Barstow. They were here last night until late working hard, and they were here this morning putting the finishing touches on the gathering in our gym. From the invitations to the signs to the schedule, thank you for all the attention to detail that helped to make the day so successful.
And of course, a special thank you to Dianne Allen, our Alumni Coordinator and PFA Liason – Di, I can’t imagine doing this without you and your cheerful leadership – thank you.
I am in my fourth year at Derryfield, and each year I look forward to the unique feeling we get from this day. I look forward to it because I am enormously proud of our faculty, and of the care and professionalism they bring to their roles and to your grandchildren and special friends. I simply like being there to hear your reactions, and to watch as you get excited about learning in the same way our students do every day.
I look forward to this day because I am very proud of our students, the way they handle themselves, and the way they extend themselves to visitors. I enjoy seeing that they are proud of our school, and they want to share their enthusiasm with family and friends. The comfort and ease of our students is evident, and their presence is the bright center of a learning environment designed to stimulate creativity, community and character.
Lastly, I look forward to today because I miss my grandparents, and your presence reminds me of all the good they brought into my life. I am quite sure I would not be standing here today – would not have found myself at home working in a school – had it not been for my grandparents. And I want to take just a few moments this morning to tell you a story of how this 48 year old grandchild was supported, influenced and encouraged by a grandparents.
I’ll tell you this story not because I think it is particularly unique, but because I am in a room full of special people who are doing the exact same thing right now for their grandchildren and special friends, as my grandparents did for me.
I never met two of my grandparents, and I told the story last school year of my grandfather on my dad’s side who was spotted playing baseball by a prominent business man who offered a college scholarship to my grandfather if he would play for the business man’s alma mater. My grandfather went home that day to his parents who were coal miners, asked them what they thought of this place called Swarthmore the man had told him about – they had never heard of it, but they said to give it a try because the coal mines would always be there.
No one on my dad’s side of the family attended college before that moment. No one has not gone to college since.
Recently I got to thinking about my grandmother on my mom’s side of the family because of an article in the Sunday New York Times about the latest new, amazing, high-tech gadget pen.
The article describes a seventh grade math class in California that has been “outfitted with ‘smart pens,’ and the pens perform an interesting trick: when students write in their notebooks, the pen records audio of whatever is going on around it and links the audio to the handwritten words. If the written notes are inadequate, the students can tap the pen on a sentence or word, and the pen plays what the teacher was saying at that precise point.
A student showed the author how it worked, flipping to her page of notes on exponents and tapping a set of numbers in the middle of the page. Out of a tiny speaker in the thick, cigar-shaped pen, the author could hear the teacher explaining that precise problem. “It’s like having your own little personal teacher there, with you at all times,” the student said.
Now this is where I have to go sideways for just a moment and tell you that when I lived in New York City in a small apartment I collected fountain pens, and really immersed myself in the history, the design, the technology and the beauty of these creations. It was a great city hobby, in part because pens don’t take-up take much space, and because the city had fountain pen stores scattered all around it.
My mom learned about this and during one of her visits she gave me her mom’s – my grandmother’s – fountain pen. It is a Parker 51 – in good shape, perfectly fine with an original nib, somewhat valuable, and these pen-geek descriptors are utterly beside the point. Because I learned from my mom that this pen was the only pen my grandmother would write with – she got it as a present from her husband who had died suddenly – my grandfather I never knew. And somewhat unexpectedly the memories began to pour forth.
This is the pen my grandmother used to sign the checks that helped pay for my independent school –
I have no doubt many of you in this room help in that way - I find that extraordinary, and I want to thank you.
This is the pen she was holding when she explained to me why she gave to her college’s annual fund, and why she thought it important that she do the same for my high school. You see, her principal had told her she could be anything she wanted as long as it was a nurse. But she wanted to be a writer, and she was forever grateful to Mount Holyoke, who she felt took a chance on her. So she gave to Mount Holyoke, and she gave to my schools.
Again, I know many of you contribute in this way - and I find extraordinary, and I want to thank you.
And this is the pen she used to write me all those letters when she knew I needed encouragement. She wrote chatty updates, and was endlessly fascinated about the details of the weather on cape cod. I didn’t save a single one of her letters - and I know there were dozens and dozens and dozens – but I have the pen she used to write each one.
But what I really have, is the feeling of someone who cared for me, who believed in me, who took the time to tell me stories about family, and about what it means to be a good person. I have those just as much as I have her pen right now.
I’ll leave you with these closing thoughts –
Before fountain pens there were quill pens.
And after fountain pens came ball point pens.
And after ball point pens there are – what did the New York Times call them? – “smart pens” - that talk back to you.
And I want to remind that the technology will continue to change, but what you did today is timeless. What you did today matters.
Because whether you are a volunteer, or faculty and staff, today you inspired bright motivated people of many ages.
Because you adults - You spent time with your grandchild, family member or special friends.
Because you students - You spent time with your grandparent, your family member or special friend.
The technology will come and go - but today for a few hours we did something that lasts. We spent time together learning, laughing and enjoying each other.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for your support, for sharing your time and your hearts with each other in this remarkable school.
And finally I would ask that you consider picking up a pen – whether it talks back to you or not – and writing a note of gratitude to someone you spent time with today.
The person you write to might not save the note, but they’ll remember how you made them feel for a long, long time.
Now it is my pleasure to introduce our concert choir.
