Last week, just after I gave some remarks at the Benefit Board/Parents’ Association meeting, I was on my way to the Middle School on the ground floor. Just as I turned the corner by the Library, I saw two young Lower School students. One of them immediately said, “Hello Mr. Doar. Could you help us?”
“Sure,” I said.
“Which way is the Activities Room?” he asked.
“This way,” I said and motioned for them to follow me as I retraced my steps toward the hallway that passes the cafeteria on the way to the Activities Room at the end of the hall.
“That’s what I thought,” said the young man glancing at his friend in an unspoken “stick with me kid” kind of way. “Thank you.”
The interaction was only this long (I’m holding up my thumb and index finger about an inch apart). But I keep replaying the scenario over and over again.
My take-away was that this 2nd grader is incredibly well positioned to succeed going forward. He was respectful, but spirited; confident and a get-it-done kind of person. So much of life is about attitude and focus. Isn’t it nice that examples of mature and thoughtful behavior can come from students of all ages?
I am on record that our “new” upper school building has exceeded our very high expectations. The spaces lend themselves to learning, to interacting and to connecting. I am energized daily, in a way that I have never been before, seeing students and teachers interact and engage in school. There is a “humanness” about the place that is very compelling.
One of the things I wasn’t prepared for following the completed renovation of the Upper School was the steady stream of visitors wanting to tour the facility. Their awe at the transformation of the building is a reminder that we are lucky to have donors who made this happen; we are fortunate to have teachers and students who maximize the building the way it was intended; and, we are grateful to the architects for their design vision and the contractors for their skills to meticulously implement the plan. It’s also a reminder that we should not take this for granted.
With that goal in mind, we collaborated with Trung Le, architect and principal of Cannon Design who designed the Upper School, to produce a video to educate our community and prospective families on the concept of “The Third Teacher” and the role the environment plays in education. Le is clearly passionate about the importance of providing spaces for connecting and collaborating; allowing for classrooms to be reconfigured quickly and easily; and integrating technology to support teaching and learning.
Even if you have had the chance to walk through the new Upper School, I encourage you to see the building through Le’s vision. You might even see a few familiar faces. And if you like what you see, I encourage you to be an ambassador for North Shore and forward the link to family, friends and others you think might be interested in learning about educational environments of the future that are being implemented today.
My son Charlie ’03 is a Middle School teacher at Norfolk Academy in Norfolk, VA. On Monday night, he called to tell us that he had given a Chapel Talk to the students in the Middle School. The topic was the upcoming semester exams. He structured his remarks around three points, hoping to help the students put the stressful experience into context – to look at the bigger picture.
Charlie Doar '03
- First – While exams are challenging, and not without stress, anxiety and generally, not fun, don’t think of them as torture. Instead, think how fortunate you are to be from a family who is committed to quality education, and to be at a school with teachers who really care about you and are invested in helping you do your best.
- Second – Yes, while these upcoming exams are a big deal, they probably won’t change your life. Charlie shared an experience he had his freshman year in college when he overslept and missed his French final. He explained to the students that he was able to survive that experience and said that he probably learned more by negotiating with his professor who was understanding and allowed him to take the exam at a later date and move forward.
- Third – He referenced a letter written by his great-great-grandfather to his grandfather who was five-years-old in 1925. (This letter was the inspiration for Charlie’s master’s thesis.) “Remember my dear child, that education consists of more than reading, writing and ciphering. It is not your destiny to become a reading, writing and ciphering machine…The aim of your education should teach you to believe that the best work is not that for which we receive most pay, but is that which is most favorable to human life, physical, intellectual and moral.”
Charlie’s message to his students was that education is about teaching you to be your complete self. And preparing for and taking exams are just a healthy part of growing and learning.
Students on a Interim Week service trip to New Orleans
With Thanksgiving a week away, I’ve spent some time taking inventory and reexamining my routine. In doing so, I remembered three recent instances where I found myself genuinely grateful for the character and responsiveness of North Shore students.
First, about three weeks ago, our Varsity Field Hockey team beat Latin 1-0 to clinch their fourth straight ISL Championship. As has been the custom for a number of years, upon winning the championship, the entire team came to the Head of School’s house to mark the occasion by singing the school song. I was at home at about 6:45 that when the doorbell rang. When my wife, Mouse, and I opened the door we were greeted with a rousing rendition of the School song. The sense of friendship, enthusiasm and accomplishment was palpable. We congratulated and thanked the team and wished them well. Off they went to their families and to homework. As we sat down to dinner, Mouse commented, “What a great group of young women – so bright, aware, genuine, energetic, thoughtful and fun. You must be very proud to be part of a school with students of that caliber.” I replied that while I was proud, I also felt very grateful to be in a school with nice, talented and genuine kids.
The second instance was at the Fall Athletic Banquet. After the program in the auditorium where each team was acknowledged, I realized that the single, most impressive thing about the evening was not the success of our teams – our winning records or All-Conference and All-State Awards – but the number of nice, terrific kids we have at North Shore. The general energy of the evening, the quality of interactions students had with their coaches, their parents and their teammates, was most powerful. There was a naturalness, an openness, a sense of appreciation and sense of humility that came through loud and clear. I commented to Dave Potter as we left the auditorium, “Wow, what an impressive group of kids. We are very fortunate to be in a school where there is such a disproportionate number of really nice, decent, thoughtful and talented kids.”
Finally, just this week, I made the rounds to follow up with teachers who had taken Upper School students on Interim Week trips. In all cases, faculty reported that their trips were very meaningful and very successful, in no small part because of our students. It isn’t easy to travel with a group of teenagers, to be responsible for them 24 hours a day for a week – to steer, guide and direct their energy and their activity. While tired, my colleagues seemed energized. They talked about their students using the following adjectives: open, eager, polite, appreciative, responsive, engaged and mature. They genuinely enjoyed spending the week with them.
My conclusion: JK through 12, North Shore has very nice kids – kids we’re proud of and proud of who they are becoming.
My Thanksgiving thank you goes to our parents for raising such nice kids and for sending them to North Shore. It goes to my colleagues for shaping our students’ strengths and potential, and modeling thoughtful involvement and responsiveness to others. Finally, it goes to our students. Thank you for being who you are – thank you for investing so thoughtfully and with such awareness.
Yesterday, thanks to our Parents’ Association Multicultural Committee, students 8th – 12th grade and parents were treated to the play Unveiled, written and performed by Rohina Malik. I found the performance to be very compelling, relevant and thought- provoking. One of the many messages that emerge is that people need to get to know others’ stories — that everyone needs to be treated with respect no matter his or her faith, background or ethnicity.
Rohina Malik | Photo Credit: Rachel Horesovsky
The headline quote above was a key message. Many challenges that face our society are the result of misinformation, misunderstanding, ill-founded and ignorant assumptions. Getting to know someone – really getting to know them — helps us understand and address these challenges and allows all people to work more together more effectively. Critical to our students’ lives ahead is the need for them to be known and for them know others for who they are — not based on the way they dress, their perceived ethnicity or the color of their skin.
The connection between the play and North Shore is relevant. One of North Shore’s hallmarks is “Students are known” — really known, not just for the grade they are in, or a particular talent or strength. In the past several weeks, we have had two Morning Ex presentations that illustrate this point — one by Mary Sturgis, class of 2012, who talked about her Amigos trip to Peru last summer, and the other by Alissa Nolan, class of 2013, who shared her Putney summer experience in Rwanda. Both presenters were thoughtful, interesting, informative and inspiring. The fact that Mary and Alissa are known not just as MEX presenters, but also as Mary and Alissa by all their Upper School classmates and many Middle and Lower School students, made their presentations all the more meaningful. People, who are known and understood, like Mary and Alissa, can make a difference at North Shore and beyond.
This week, our Head of Lower School Pam Whalley, observed a fifth grade class having a lively discussion. The kids were clearly engaged — they were enthusiastic, connected,even excited. One girl had her hand up as the class discussion evolved and when the teacher finally called upon her, there was a pause and then the girl said, “Oh, I don’t really have anything to contribute, but I thought I might think of something, so I raised my hand just in case a good thought came to me.”
The message is, North Shore students want and expect to be involved, and to be a critical part of the conversation – so much so that they raise their hands, in effect, to “make a reservation.” They know they count and what they think really matters.
“I look for people who can write and write well.”
The quote above was made by our Stanton Recognition Recipient, Dick Meyer ’76 in response to the question, “In this very fluid, consistently changing world, what are you looking for when you interview young people?” (Dick is the executive editor of NPR. He shapes and oversees NPR’s worldwide news operation on-air and online.)
The people in the audience, a mix of alumni and parents of alumni from the 1940s through the 2000s, seemed reassured and a bit surprised by his answer. Reassured because a person who graduates from North Shore is grateful for their preparation to enter college prepared to write. Our young alumni frequently tell their former teachers that they are getting A’s on papers when their peers are struggling to write a term paper. Surprised, because in a digital world, aren’t other non-verbal skills such as fluency in technology more valuable?
The answer is no — writing still matters. At North Shore and in life, writing continues to be an essential component of communicating, whether writing a term paper, email, book, blog or personal letter. And North Shore continues to prepare its students, starting in Lower School all the way through the 12th grade, to write, write with confidence, write with fluency and write well.
My first teaching assignment was at St. Paul Academy where I worked with a very talented Lower School Head named George. He had a terrific son Tim, who attended the school. I thought it was great that George had a job that allowed him and his son to be connected and share togetherness at school. George saw Tim throughout the day, knew Tim’s friends and was available to Tim’s teachers should there be a need for clarification or guidance.
What I soon realized was that George knew way too much about his son’s life — his friends, activities and the idiosyncrasies of his everyday routine. Tim’s school experience wasn’t enriched, but was actually compromised by his father’s close proximity. As I watched Tim grow and develop he became less self confident, less assertive and less independent. His dad’s presence in his school life was too much.
My three children, now in their 20s, experienced a situation similar to George and Tim. I was a part of their school as a teacher, coach or administrator. They, in effect, had to manage me, in addition to everything else that came from school. Fortunately, they survived and gained from their school experience, in part, because I may have learned something from George and Tim, in part, because they have great teachers and mentors, and, in part, because their mother kept us all in balance.
Fast forward to 2011, where students and parents are more linked than ever before with instant communication, cell phones and texting. While there are clear benefits of children and parents being connected, there is a concern it is too much and too close. From an educator’s perspective, the downside is similar to George and Tim – too much parent involvement compromises children’s autonomy and their school experience. How can kids learn to advocate for themselves, handle disappointment or manage their own agendas if parents are over involved?
The North Shore model is based on a student/faculty/parent partnership, with the student being the central figure. Our challenge is for each member of this partnership to play the appropriate role. We need to make sure it’s the children who are attending North Shore Country Day School and managing the ups and downs and not the parents. Going through days independently is necessary for students to experience successes and failures on their own. Dealing with these highs and lows are some of the most valuable lessons they can learn as they prepare for life.
Don’t get me wrong, parents investing in their children is great — except when it crosses the line and infringes on students’ autonomy. I ask all North Shore parents to take inventory on a regular basis and be mindful of the proper balance of independence and support.
Our goal at North Shore is to make the conditions for learning as optimal as possible – good teachers, good students, small classes, interesting and compelling curriculum – all occurring in spaces that leverage peoples’ best.
When we were beginning to plan for the renovation of the Upper School, our architects hosted an Educational Summit and invited faculty, students and administration. The focus of the Summit was to challenge us to look beyond North Shore, to examine trends in teaching and learning and to understand “best practice.” One of the speakers spoke about the importance of providing furniture that allows movement. It has long been recognized just how critical movement is to learning. Students need to shift positions, chairs and desks to keep their minds alert and focused.
We now have a new and empowering tool. Nodes. These “chairs of the future” are used throughout our Upper School and in a handful of our Middle School classrooms.
Not only do they look modern, distinct and colorful, more importantly, they make it easy to rearrange a room into a large circle for a group discussion, or divide the class up into small work groups. They also have a tray below for students to stash backpacks, have an adjustable work surface and allow students to swivel freely.
It’s still early but already clear, that the nodes work and are contributing to positive conditions for teaching and learning.
Campus is buzzing this week, and not from the sound of cicadas. New and returning students and faculty are dipping their toes into a new school year – picking up books, figuring out locker combinations, setting up classrooms, attending athletic practices and gathering to board buses on their way to outdoor education.
The energy at the start of school a year is a mixture of eager anticipation and excitement, balanced with nervousness and uncertainty that is brought about by change. Changing from one grade to the next. Coming to a new school. Meeting new friends. Anticipating meeting new teachers and what the school year holds. Observing these emotions play out is intriguing – particularly as I know these initial interactions will frame the basis of connections and relationships that will influence each student’s growth in very meaningful ways.
Even the campus looks new and different this year with the completion of our Upper School renovation and landscaping that has
been enhanced and upgraded. We are now positioned to “do” school and at even higher level than before. I sense we will be ready for the challenge. Our faculty are excited to teach in spaces that allow them to fully display their passion for their subjects and, more importantly, their investment in each of their students. Students, who have always felt valued and central to the North Shore experience, seem to be even further empowered. To know that our new spaces were designed for them and paid for by people who believe in them sends a very powerful message to our students. They matter, they know they matter, and they are positioned to act in a manner — with awareness, energy and focus — knowing that adults in our community believe in them.
