Go Raiders!

I’ve always held a very strong belief that young people gain a great deal from participation in athletics and more specifically from the team-sport experience. I played a variety of sports growing up, coached a lot in my first years as a teacher and spent a countless hours watching my children play sports.

Being on a team, and working with teammates and coaches to reach a common goal (pun intended), has great value. While North Shore may never be an athletic power in the traditional sense – i.e. a narrow focus on wins and losses – in terms of student development and student growth, those traditional powers could learn a lot from North Shore.

I am also convinced that our fall athletic season has been as successful as any in North Shore’s long history. Not because we won more games – although our teams did very well, including a couple that had the strongest seasons during my time at North Shore – but because our students participated with energy, engagement and focus. Our students were guided by talented coaches/educators/mentors. They worked hard and they worked together. They had fun and exhibited wonderful spirit. They won and they lost. They celebrated and they faced disappointment.

The success that took place last fall began this summer when many members of our teams came to campus on a regular basis to work out, build strength and athleticism, and build partnership and teamwork with one another and their coaches. Not only did our students gain physical strength and skills, but more importantly the time spent with their friends and coaches provided a structure for their overall growth as young men and women. They learned and grew, not just as volleyball players or cross-country runners, but as people, learning who they are and who they can develop to be. A sense of connection and belonging was established as was the initial development of a common purpose.

Each team has its own story – stories that include individual successes as well as disappointments, relationships deepening by coming together, role models emerging, frustrations dealt with, and empathy and awareness growing for teammates and even those we competed against – the “other” teams.

While our students’ wins were celebrated, we worked to remain committed to focusing on energy, effort, collaboration and the sense of team.

At the beginning of the school year, Athletic Director Patrick McHugh told me he felt better than ever about the strength of our coaching staff and he predicted a successful season for our students and teams – success defined by growth, commitment, friendships, accomplishments and fun. It seems clear that Patrick is not only a talented teacher/coach and athletic director, but he is a bit of a clairvoyant as well.

In a video produced last year about North Shore’s athletics program, Patrick concluded by saying “The outcomes of our athletic program go beyond the physical. They come back to the values like cooperation, determination, persistence — values and traits that will help our students decades later when they are in their 30s and 40s faced with the challenges that life deals all of us. So those are what we hope will ultimately be our outcomes. We love having championship athletes, but we’d also like to see championship people.”

As I look at the increasingly long list of North Shore graduates who have built on their North Shore experience to play sports in college, I smile. Not because they are captains of teams or part of winning programs (although they are), but because of who these individuals are as people – well-rounded, aware of others, focused and wonderfully positioned to move forward and contribute – in multiple and meaningful ways.

North Shore Country Day School is a private, college-prep school for high school, middle school and elementary school students in Winnetka, IL, a suburb of Chicago.

Tell Someone What You Love About The School

I had a conversation with a fellow Head of School a few weeks ago about, among other things, marketing and advertising strategies. In doing so, I was reminded that NAIS (the National Association of Independent Schools) research reports that 70% to 80% of new families indicate what compelled them to investigate independent schools, and ultimately enroll at a particular school, is word-of-mouth —conversations with current students and families already enrolled in the school.

This Head confirmed he works to deliver a strong message to his faculty, parents and trustees that they all share the responsibility of admissions. It’s as simple as telling people what you love about the school.

Last weekend, we hosted the first of our Open Houses, an indication we have entered the admissions season. As I thought about our enrollment marketing and advertising, I concluded that while we are clearly in a strong enrollment position, I have not reminded everyone enough to spread the good word about North Shore.

In my role, I hear quite often from students, parents, alumni and faculty why North Shore is their school. To the extent we can empower our best ambassadors — our North Shore community — to share their good thoughts and their North Shore experience, we will have the best ad campaign a school can find.

I don’t need to tell you why or what you love about our school, but I will share with you what I tell prospective families what I love about North Shore.

• North Shore students – Our students are our great strength. From our youngest to our oldest, they are bright, motivated, curious, invested, responsive and respectful. In how many schools do students say “yes” I will try, I will volunteer, I will extend myself, with the regularity of North Shore students? In how many schools do students routinely thank their teacher at the end of a class and in how many schools are students referred to as “open, nice and genuine?”
• North Shore adults – faculty and staff, parents and parents of alumni and alumni commit, contribute, care and engage. All want what is best for our students, what is best for our school.
• North Shore’s program – “A very big program for the size of our school.” From academics to the arts, from service opportunities to athletics, our students are required to participate in it all, and in turn become well-rounded young adults well prepared for college.
• Our Culture – in some respects this is hard to define, but very easy to feel. People – young and old – like being together, bring out the best in one another and themselves, and generally just like being on campus and at school.

There are many, many other things that I love about North Shore, I could go on and on, but selling the School and encouraging others to investigate North Shore shouldn’t just come from me. You are our best advocates . . . so, spread the word. “Tell others what you love about North Shore.”

North Shore Country Day School is a private, college-prep school for high school, middle school and elementary school students in Winnetka, IL, a suburb of Chicago.

Growth

I know I have said this before, but I will say it again. I am very grateful I work in a school and particularly grateful I work at North Shore. The reasons are many, and one of the most important reasons was displayed earlier this week.

On Monday, I had a conversation and a classroom visit that reinforced to me the power of the student-teacher connection and the impact of this connection on our students’ growth.

It started when I touched base with Athletic Director and Track Coach Patrick McHugh to get an update on the Girls’ Track Sectional Meet that took place the previous Friday. Our conversation reinforced once again how much he cares about his athletes, how invested he is in their growth and progress, and how proud he is of their accomplishments. The Meet, like so many other athletic contests, had its ups and downs. Some on the team exceeded expectations; others came up short or didn’t perform at their best. Patrick’s knowledge and his commitment reminded me again what high-school sports are about, and illustrated the remarkable growth that comes to students when they invest themselves and are guided by a talented educator.

Next, I wandered into the Chorus Room and spent 20 minutes listening to the Upper School Chorus. Performing Arts Department Chair Michael Querio was at his post in front of the group with accompanist Ingmari Wahlgren at the piano. The energy in the room was light-hearted yet focused – the spirit positive and very respectful. It was clear that all in the room, students and teacher alike, were “in the moment;” all seemed delighted to be working and singing together. After 10 minutes, Michael instructed the group to pull out a piece of music the students had not sung since the fall. They performed it at a very high level as if they had been rehearsing it for weeks. Then Michael asked each group — sopranos, altos, tenors and basses — what was different from when they first sang the song in the fall. The responses were impressive. Each group acknowledged the high level of the performance and framed their remarks with insight and awareness. Michael acknowledged their comments will a smile – it seemed to get wider and wider with each comment. The students knew what his smile meant – they had grown and improved and, as a group, reached a new level. All seemed to understand and were proud they did it together — they had followed their teacher’s lead.

These are only two examples of what I am lucky to see played out regularly at North Shore. I am grateful to our students and teachers for all they invest of themselves on the fields, on stage, in the classrooms and in service. Thank you.

North Shore Country Day School is a private, college-prep school for high school, middle school and elementary school students in Winnetka, IL, a suburb of Chicago.