Good Tidings

Even in such a crazy, difficult time, there are so many wonderful things happening at Gaston Day School. So I have decided to share some. They are in no particular order of importance--all stand out. First, Harvey Maners is retiring from maintenance and operations at the end of this calendar year after twelve years of loyal, effective service. Harvey, who has one of world's gentlest spirits, came to the school to replace the legendary Hal Carpenter, who was a tough act to follow. From day one, Harvey did his job quietly, without fanfare, and well. Pretty soon, he gained everyone's confidence and trust. Harvey stands in a long line of GDS employees whose goodness and integrity rubbed off on everyone around them. And he was unusually good at his job. Thank you, Harvey, for a job well done and for your outstanding contributions to the school. 

More praise for another amazing employee. Rebekah Bing served until recently as School Secretary and Assistant to the Head. Everyone who knows or interacts with Rebekah--especially me--knows about her unfailing kindness, competence, and wisdom. About a month ago, it occurred to me that I was making very few decisions without asking Rebekah's advice. Sometimes--and I am only half joking--I think Rebekah is really running the school, and that's why Gaston Day is doing so well!! Anyway, in recognition of Rebekah's incredible value and contributions to the school, I decided to change her title to School Secretary and Executive Assistant to the Head. Her new title more accurately describes her role in the life of the school. Please join me in congratulating Rebekah and thanking her for all she does. 

Other things that make me proud and happy: Rick Fischer's band concert in the PKW parking lot this past Monday. Like all Mr. Fischer's concerts, it was great. But this one was particularly special because of all the obstacles Rick Fischer has faced and overcome. He has taught band this year in the most challenging circumstances. The band has practiced in the pitching and batting cage up at the Frances H. Henry Baseball Field or on the lawn outside the band room to stay safe and healthy. Mr. Fischer could have found lots of reasons to grumble and complain, but he hasn't. Instead, he has taken the proverbial lemon and made lemonade. And our band made beautiful music at their outdoor concert. His dedication and invincibility really are just one of the more visible examples of the way the whole faculty has responded to the Covid challenge. Thank you, Mr. Fischer, and thank you, faculty!!

Finally, the success of Giving Tuesday reflects the generosity of all our donors and the hard work of our Advancement and Marketing and Communications teams. Davidson Hobson, Casey Field (who is helping out with the Gaston Day Fund this year), and Kristin Paxton-Shaw created lots of excitement and fanfare around Giving Tuesday. They also convinced two of our largest donors to extend giving challenges to the rest of the Gaston Day community. Ralph and Sally Robinson, former GDS parents and longtime supporters, agreed to make a dollar-for-dollar match for any gift made on Giving Tuesday up to $25,000. Another anonymous donor agreed to give $10,000 to the GDS Fund if we got 25 new gifts from alums. Here are the amazing results. We raised just over $50,000 on Giving Tuesday (not counting the challenge grants) and received 29 new alumni gifts. So altogether, we raised over $85,000 on Giving Tuesday for the school. Thank you, donors!!!

I hope each of you has the merriest, most meaningful holidays ever!! Good tidings to you and peace on earth!!

Staying the Course

Living with COVID-19 is hard. So much of our regular school routine has been disrupted. Especially for our upper school students who are just earning the freedom that comes with young adulthood, the safety restrictions and constant monitoring are discouraging. When will COVID-19 go away and let us return to normal? That is a question I find myself wondering often. 

Unfortunately, the situation appears to be getting worse in Gaston County, not better. Our health care experts tell us that hospitalizations are at an all-time high. So the reality is that we have to stay the course and stick to our safety protocols.

Are we up to the challenge? Is it worth it? A resounding "YES!" is the answer to both of those questions. Staying the course not only protects others and ourselves, it also provides us with an opportunity to discover the hidden strength available to those who put others first. 

Gaston Day is always going to choose to protect our community. None of this means that staying safe and being careful will be always fun or easy. But we will become stronger by experiencing, enduring, and overcoming adversity. Rising to this challenge better prepares us for whatever life can throw at us in the future. Is it too farfetched to think that the COVID-19 pandemic is going to force us to develop better resources and coping skills that we never would have found in easier times? Maybe the hard way is the best way.

So why do we stay the course? Because we care about the health of ourselves and others in our
community. Because we are strong enough to face this challenge together. Because it makes us stronger.

We will emerge from this crisis even stronger than we were before. And we will know that united we can face and overcome a great challenge. Staying the course forges us into a community of stronger, more caring people. 

And sometimes, staying the course can be joyful. There are lots of reasons to celebrate what is happening at Gaston Day School. Our students are still learning. Our safety procedures appear to be working so far. Our virtual learning format ensures that we are ready to adapt to changing circumstances. 

There are other bright spots. The Middle School Band Concert was fantastic. Girls tennis, girls
volleyball, and boys soccer are all three in the semi-finals of state tournaments in their respective sports. For all the athletes, coaches and us true-blue Spartan fans, this is one of the most exciting and successful seasons ever. 

Even in the pandemic, Gaston Day continues to thrive and excel. Spartan strong. Spartan united. 

Convocation Address, 2020

After five long months away from on-campus learning, I want to welcome everyone back to school. It will truly be great to see you tomorrow and the next day. Also I especially want to welcome our new students and ask all of you GDS veterans to welcome them. We all know what it is like to come into a new setting where you don’t know lots of people. Our job is to make our new students feel at home here. So welcome, newcomers--you belong at Gaston Day School.

I have a friend who retired as president of a large bank here in Gaston County, and one his most important management principles--one of the guiding rules that helped him run his bank so successfully--was this: “I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care.”

He believed that being smart really doesn’t matter if you don’t care--first and most important, you must be committed to a cause--in his case the bank. Being smart helps, but only if you already care. The more deeply you care, the better. The knowing actually grows out of the caring. 

“I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care.” 

I want to suggest to you that “how much we care about each other” will make all the difference this year, and I am asking all of us to do our best “to care for each other” more than we ever have before. It is a strange and difficult time we are living in and through. To return to in-person learning at Gaston Day has involved an extraordinary effort. All the changes you see and all the health and safety features and protocols you will experience are part of an amazing campaign to keep us safe and allow on-campus learning. All these changes represent the school’s best effort “to care for each other.” If the changes seem irritating or hard, remember they come from a place of deep caring.

We need each and every one of us to keep caring for each other if we are going to keep the campus safe. Seniors we need you to be our leaders in caring. We need everyone to do all the things that are both simple, yet annoying, and hard, at least until we get used to them. Wear our masks, wash our hands, stay six feet apart from each other. If we do that, then we minimize the likelihood that Covid-19 will make us sick or force us to have to shift to virtual learning again.

We know how to do virtual learning. Some of us are choosing to do that as our primary way of learning. That is a good choice for those individuals. All of us may have to switch to virtual learning if safety dictates it. But won’t it be great if we can stay safe and healthy here, and learn together in person.

And, yes, I do care how much you know. That’s why we go to school. To learn. To be curious. To solve equations. To write poems. To formulate hypotheses. To hit a perfect note. To choose the right colors. But the learning grows out of the caring. We are going to learn a lot because we care so much.

Especially this year, the learning starts with the caring, and whether we learn on campus or virtually from home really does depend a lot on how much we care for each other through observing the safety practices and protocols that we have put in place. And I want you to hear me say this: I care about each of you, and I want the best for you. When you see me wearing my mask, I hope you can see my eyes get real narrow, because that means behind my mask I am smiling at you. And I am going to do everything I can reasonably do and personally practice those things that keep all of us safe and healthy. I am asking you to join me and all the other Gaston Day people who care. We want to become a community or a school of caring people.

I believe that if we create a school full of caring people then we will all be part of one of the greatest years ever. And we will see with our own eyes, wide open right above our masks, that caring for each other really is the most important thing in life. 

It is going to be a great year. And the greatest lesson will be how we all pulled together and cared for each other in all sorts of ways that we never have before. Thanks, everyone. I’ll see some of you at school tomorrow and most of the rest of you the next day.  

Keeping Gaston Day Safe During the Pandemic

Over the last several months, Gaston Day has worked hard to create an environment that will be safe for the opening of school. I want to share with you the major changes that we have made toward that goal, and how we have been able to either meet or exceed CDC guidelines.

While all our improvements are important, there are three features that I especially want to highlight. The first is that we have met the CDC guideline of having every student at least six feet apart in all classrooms. To do so we have had to convert space not traditionally used for teaching into new classrooms. The upper dining hall, the George F. Henry Library, the PKW lobby, and the Henry Center Gym have all become teaching spaces. The result is every Gaston Day student can be on this campus at the same time and still be safely spaced.

If you wonder why so many other schools are going to a hybrid model in which part of their student body is on campus while the rest are learning from home virtually, the reason is those schools have been unable to find enough space to have all their students on campus at the same time. We have done it. As a result, parents do not have to figure out what to do with their children learning virtually from home part of the time. If all goes as planned, and Gaston Day does not have to switch to a virtual platform because public health officials recommend such a move, we can all fit on this campus safely.

The second crucial feature of our plan--and one that may be unique to Gaston Day School--is that we have separated all our grades into cells or cohorts that do not mix with each other during the school day. This has required extraordinary planning and scheduling but the benefits are enormous. Each grade at Gaston Day (except the 11th and 12th grades which are combined into a single unit) is self-contained and does not interact with the rest of the school during and between classes. This limits the possibility of COVID-19 spread and--and this is really important--isolates any COVID-19 cases to a single area without contaminating the rest of the school. So if we do have COVID-19 infections at Gaston Day, we should be able to contain spread, isolate cases, disinfect the affected areas, and return to normal as soon as possible. COVID-19 infections in one grade should not spread easily to other grades.

Even meals will occur by grade as food service delivers boxed-lunches outside each classrooms. In a certain sense, Gaston Day has created fourteen separate schools (or grades) that are meeting on our campus simultaneously, but not interacting. Even where exceptions have to be made to strict separation, as is the case with bus transportation and after-school care, the school has taken great precautions to limit the possibility of spread.

The third safety practice is that everyone at Gaston Day, except our youngest Spartans and their teachers during class, will be wearing masks all day to prevent spread. Lower school teachers will be wearing face shields when teaching so that our younger students can see their faces and understand better. Everyone else will be wearing their masks, and so will Lower School teachers when outside their classroom settings.

And there are other important precautions. We have created several larger classrooms on the Circle to accommodate our biggest classes safely. We have purchased thermometer scanners that take temperatures of everyone as they enter the buildings. We have installed signage that keeps everyone six feet apart in the halls and other common areas. We have placed hand sanitizing dispensers throughout the campus. We have created the new position of Wellness Coordinator (Melissa Fayssoux) to monitor temperature taking and handle anyone who becomes ill. We have enlarged our cleaning staff and developed a strict and frequent cleaning regimen. In all, Gaston Day School has invested almost $200,000 in safety and health improvements to prepare for the reopening of school.

So we go into the new school year well prepared. And, we know from last year, that we are able to move swiftly and effectively to a virtual learning platform if we have to. Public health officials will guide those decisions. We have done our best to be ready for anything.

I know that everyone has mixed feeling as we anticipate a return to school: fear, excitement, eagerness to see friends, curiosity, and so much more. So wash your hands often, practice wearing your masks, and buy your thermometers to begin checking your temperature each morning before you come to school. This is what I am doing every day. And, guess what, it really isn't all that bad. In the afternoon, often I find that I have driven over half way home before I realize that I am still wearing my mask. Pretty soon, things become new habits. The same will be true for you. 

The start of school is just around the corner, and we want everyone to stay healthy and get ready to learn. I hope you know how much I care about you! Remember we are all in this together! We really are!!

Dr. Rankin

Gaston Day Interns Capitalize on Opportunities at Parkdale Mills

Down in the basement of Parkdale Mills Headquarters here in Gastonia, a small group of young women interns are working tirelessly and growing new business at a rate almost beyond belief. Internships often involve mundane tasks and busy work and doing lower priority jobs that no one else has time for. But not these internships. The COVID-19 crisis has strained the nation's PPE supply chain. So these young women are working diligently to help supply our first responders and others with these critical needs. Among this group of interns are Madeleine Singh (rising ninth grader), Katherine Heilig (rising senior), Lauralee Hurst (recent 2020 graduate and class valedictorian) and Ceci D'Amore (GDS Class of 2017 and rising Notre Dame University senior). The pandemic has turned their internships into a crash course in sales and marketing, and these young women are more than meeting the challenge.

Here is how it all happened. With leadership from CEO Andy Warlick (GDS Class of 1975), Parkdale Mills, a world leader in yarn manufacturing and beauty and cosmetic cotton products worked with the US government and a coalition of US textile companies to begin retrofitting facilities and altering production towards facemasks and gowns. As a result, Parkdale began producing masks and gowns for the US government, FEMA, and the nation's health care industry. These contracts have put thousands of USA textile workers back to work and allowed other textile companies to join the effort.

Realizing that other state agencies, universities, school systems, and the private sector had an immediate need for PPE as well, Parkdale wanted to grow awareness about their new production capacities and capabilities. This also provided opportunity to further support their textile industry and supply chain partners, and keep their employees working during this pandemic. To do so, Davis Warlick (GDS Class of 2004)  reached out to Gaston Day School looking for promising interns to assist in their new efforts.

The internship program has provided these Gaston Day students and alums with the opportunity to learn about manufacturing, supply chain, and the art of the sale. And sell they have. Sensing a need for student demand as they return to campus in the fall, Ceci D'Amore has focused on working with colleges and universities. While I visited, she was working diligently on facemask prototypes for

Ohio State University. Based on the volume expectations, this order could potentially exceed Gaston Day School's annual budget! And Ceci is not the only one. Katherine Heilig secured a high five-figure sale the other day. Madeleine Singh and Lauralee Hurst have built from scratch an E-Commerce platform that allows individual consumers to purchase Parkdale masks online. Davis Warlick noted that Hurst and Singh did the whole thing by themselves and without outside help. Using their writing skills--courtesy of the GDS English department--graphic skills, and fashion sense, they have built a platform that outclasses the competition.

Warlick cannot contain his enthusiasm and praise for what the interns have accomplished. He, Johanna Pichardo, and the Parkdale staff provide guidance. However, the interns have been empowered to help identify opportunities. According to Davis, the interns "are getting an MBA experience and they don't even know it." This group of Gen Z interns proves that generational perceptions can be misleading--as Warlick appreciates how well suited their skill sets are for this task. Their combination of communications and technology skills, their work ethic, fashion sense, and competitiveness make them ideal employees. According to Warlick, "these young women are bright, creative and have a great work ethic. Way to go, Gaston Day!"

Meanwhile, back in the sales center in the Parkdale basement, the interns continue to discuss COVID trends--identifying where future demand will be and where supply deficiencies exist. Warlick just shakes his head in amazement and smiles. Do these young women know how much business

knowledge they are soaking up? Probably not. And the masks are keeping people safe and healthy. Everyone wins--the interns, Parkdale Mills, and the customers! This is the free enterprise system operating at its best and taking care of an extraordinary public need in a time of crisis.

This group of interns is certainly one of the most effective and successful ever assembled. If you are reading this post during working hours, rest assured, the interns are hard at work--making more calls, closing more sales, and filling more orders.
If you would like to order a Gaston Day face mask CLICK HERE. 

Why I Still Wear a Tie in the Covid-19 Crisis

Working from home this morning on a Zoom meeting with the GDS operations team, Director of

Technology Lindsie Chapman finally came right out and asked me, "Dr. Rankin, why are you still wearing a tie every day?" Several people have asked me a similar question or made a related comment. Summer Fulghum in a Lower School Zoom meeting last Friday observed that I did not have on my tie. Well, that was because it was Friday, and every Friday is a casual dress day for the administration and faculty at Gaston Day. Also, I noticed at my weekly teleconference meeting with all the North Carolina independent school heads that I was the only male head of school wearing a tie.

Even before the crisis, wearing a tie was becoming less and less common in a more casual and relaxed world. For a long time, I told myself that I want to be a role model of professional dress for our students. They will have job and scholarship interviews some day, and I want to give them an example of proper professional attire. I still believe that. But I also realize that wearing a tie dates me. As fewer and fewer people wear ties, only traditional dressers like me maintain older fashion. Does wearing a tie send a false message that I am not open to change? That I am out of step with the times? Maybe so.

Part of my dressing habits comes from belonging to a family of more formal dressers. My father was a family doctor, and he wore a coat and tie all the time. I have vivid recollections of my father coming home and cutting the grass on his riding lawn mower in a shirt and tie. (He also wore hats. So that may explain that clothing choice of mine too.)

Part of wearing a tie is a fashion statement. I think ties are wearable art. If you sift through several hundred ties at thrift stores, you will find a few high-quality, vintage ties for $1.49.

So well before the Covid-19 crisis, I had long deliberated on whether or not I should still be wearing a tie. On the pro side was looking professional, family tradition, and self-expression. On the con side was the appearance that I was outdated and not open to change.

Then came the Covid-19 crisis, and we all found ourselves facing enormous, unprecedented change and challenges. Chaos was swirling. How was I to face these challenges and lead our team of educators to give students everything they needed? On the first day after spring break working virtually from home, I decided that the best way to meet the challenges facing us was to be the same person I have always been. So I put on my white shirt and tie, and I got to work. Wearing my tie has become a constant reminder of who I am and what my responsibilities are. It reassures and encourages me to stay the course.

I have come to understand my tie as a kind of badge. It is the outer expression of an inner resolve to be the best head of school possible during a time of turmoil. I plan to keep wearing it.

Meeting the Challenge

As Gaston Day shifts to its new virtual learning format, I have been working mostly from home and trying to do my part to "flatten the curve" of the Covid-19 epidemic. What a strange, exciting, frightening new world we are living in.

Before I share some thoughts on this new reality, let me go ahead and tell you just how proud I am of all my Gaston Day colleagues, and the way we have united around delivering a quality virtual

education to our students. There was no spring break for many of us, and what we accomplished in

just over a week is truly remarkable. From my perspective, we are rising to the challenge, and my heart is truly overflowing with gratitude toward my amazing team of educators! We are off to a strong start, and we are in this for as long as it takes. Years ago in the 1970's during my Gaston Day football playing days, we had a cliche that was corny, but true: "When the going get's tough, the tough get going." We are going at Gaston Day.

I also have to tell you how proud I am of my GDS classmate Andy Warlick and his Parkdale team as

they organized the American textile industry in an effort to produce millions of desperately needed masks for the health care industry. Andy's patriotism, vision, and know how are extraordinary, and people around the world are talking about what Parkdale is doing. One of our Tower Bridge International recruiting partners in South Korea told Carolyn Senter that Parkdale's efforts were national news there. Andy Warlick's leadership brings honor to his alma mater. Thank you, Andy. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Every morning I get up, dress for work, putting on a shirt and tie as I always do. I am determined to maintain my routines and traditions in this new virtual setting. There are teleconferences and Zoom meetings all day long to make sure that the school is running well. What would we do without technology and social media? Imagine what would have happened if the Covid-19 virus had struck a decade ago? We lacked the infrastructure to produce a virtual school. But now we can. It's a crash
course in technology usage. I am learning so much about hot spots, Zoom, Google hangouts, synchronous learning, and asynchronous learning. When the crises passes, we are all going to be so much better technology users. There are silver linings even in an epidemic.

Another unexpected blessing is how much this crisis has made me appreciate my family and the

natural world. My visits with my 20-month-old grandson James Isaac are now only Facetime calls. But the other day he called me "Papa" twice as he smiled at me over my iPhone. And the beauty of spring is oblivious to Covid-19. The pair of phoebes that build a nest each year in our garage is back. Watching the female on her nest reassures me that there is so much that remains natural and unchanged. The rhythm of life is still beating.

Please know what a privilege it is to lead such a fabulous school. My dedication to Gaston Day School has never been stronger. I hope all of you are doing well. I will be calling many of you over the next several weeks to check in and see how you are doing. Spartan Strong, Spartan United.


Dr. Rankin

What Our Second Graders Dream About

Mrs. Suzanne Current recently gave her Second Graders an assignment to finish this sentence, "I have a dream," with their personal dreams for the future. Here is how each student completed his or her dream sentence. They are displayed as posters on the left-hand wall as you enter from the lobby into the lower school.

I have a dream that ... everyone takes care of animals. (Diego Valentin)

I have a dream that .... people will take care of the world. (Chloe Hyre-Barton)

I have a dream that ... everyone will get an education. (Emmery Clarkson)

I have a dream that ... everyone has a home.
(Henry Pietras)

I have a dream that ... everyone has a job.
(Mason Parlier)

I have a dream that ... families spend more time together. (Maggie Collins)

I have a dream that ... people don't litter.
(Wyatt Contento)

I have a dream that ... poor people get what they need. (Taylor Palmieri)

I have a dream that ... we would take care of nature.
(Jackson Falls)

I have a dream that ... people help each other. (Lily Bowe)

I have a dream that ... everybody has a home. (Ella Johnson)

I have a dream that ... people would take care of nature. (Evan Sisk)

I have a dream that ... people can help the homeless.
(Addi Habbal)

I have a dream that ... people would be more kind and be friends. (Hudson Roberts)

I have a dream that ... people are nice to each other.
(Lily Capone)

I have a dream that ... everyone is taken care of.
(Daven Peeler)

I have a dream that ... people have food.
(Annabelle Lichty)

I have a dream that ... the poor are helped. (Izzie Merida)

Aren't our Second Graders' dreams beautiful, moving and profound? Don't you wish that all their
dreams could come true? Doesn't it fill you with hope that these are their dreams?

What are your dreams for the future? Do they retain their sense of child-like hope and purity? Reading our Second Graders' dreams made me pause to reflect on how important it is for me as an adult to keep dreaming and working to make the world a better place.

I have a dream that .... someday our Second Graders' dreams will come true. (Dr. Rankin)