The Creative Tension Between Beauty, Love, Responsibility and Concern in an Independent School

I have seen no more beautiful thing than my orange grove by night, lighted by the
fatwood fires. It is doubly beautiful for the danger and the struggle, like a beloved
friend for whose life one battles, drinking in the well known features that may be taken
away forever. The fires make a geometric pattern, spaced as regularly as the squares
of trees. The pine burns with a bright orange flame and the effect is countless bivouac
fires across a low-wooded plain. The sky is sapphire blue, spangled with stars. The
smoke lifts from the fires grey-white, melting into gray-blue, drifting like the veils of a
dancer under the open skies. Each orange tree is outlined with light. The green leaves
shine like jade. The round oranges are lit with a secret inner candle. My heart bursts
with the loveliness of the grove and of the night. If only, I think, I could watch such
beauty unencumbered by my fears, and that all good things do not come too easily and
must be perpetually fought for. Our test is in our recognition of our love and our
willingness to do battle for it.

                                                                 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953)
                                                                 Cross Creek

While recently reading Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ Cross Creek, the above quote
impressed me with how aptly it describes my experience as Gaston Day head of school.
One of our greatest writers, Rawlings as an adult moved from Washington, D.C., to a
remote part of Florida where she immersed herself in rural life and bought an orange
grove to support herself. The image above depicts the fight to save the orange grove
during an unusually severe cold spell in Florida. Rawlings and her grove workers built
and tended fires all night long to warm the orange trees and save the fruit from freezing.
What struck me most about her description was the creative tension between the beauty
of the firelit orange grove, the danger of the destructive freeze, and the battle to protect
the fruit. In particular, the last two lines of the passage seemed to be an especially
accurate summary of what it means to be an independent school leader.

If only, I think, I could watch such beauty unencumbered by my fears, and that all
good things do not come too easily and must be perpetually fought for. Our test is in
our recognition of our love and our willingness to do battle for it.

I might have forgotten about the Rawlings’ quote if it had not snowed this week. For me,
nothing more than snow highlights the tension between beauty, concern, responsibility,
and the safety of our school. The snow is beautiful, and I want so badly to enjoy it. But I
must concern myself with whether or not to close school, and all the tasks associated
with re-opening school. At times the responsibility is truly burdensome. On the one
hand, safety is paramount. On the other hand, every day that school is closed is learning
time lost. Are sidewalks cleared and salted? Has the power been knocked out? Are the
servers down? Are there any leaks from ice dams on the roof? (Just as there was this
time in Mrs. Harbin’s Kindergarten Room. Is there anything more hideous or messier
than sodden, broken ceiling tiles littering a classroom?) How can I appreciate the beauty
of the snow and the joy our students must be experiencing on their weather holiday
when I must keep them safe and prepare to re-open school?

If only, I think, I could watch such beauty unencumbered by my fears, and that all
good things do not come too easily and must be perpetually fought for. Our test is in
our recognition of our love and our willingness to do battle for it.

The anxiety and responsibility of snow days are really just a particularly intense version
of what it means to be a leader or a teacher in an independent school. Every day we
juggle so many concerns about student safety, vital learning, middle school social
drama, college acceptances and a thousand other responsibilities and challenges. Why
do we do it?

Our test is in our recognition of our love and our willingness to do battle for it.

The beauty of our students surrounds us. Sometimes when they recite a poem, paint a
watercolor, ace an exam, or give a stirring speech, they almost blind us with the
splendor of their accomplishments!

I know what Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings felt when she beheld her endangered orange
grove, beautifully ablaze with the fires that she hoped would save it. It is the creative
tension between beauty, care and responsibility. It is why we commit ourselves to the
things we love. It is why we are independent school educators.

Service and Generosity as a Gaston Day School Community Value

Part of what defines Gaston Day School is a group of community values that our Board of Trustees has determined. Here they are: Integrity, Compassion, Excellence, Curiosity and Creativity, Service and Generosity, Responsibility and Self-Discipline, Confidence and Courage, and Respect for Self and Others. These are the core values that we live by here, and that direct our behavior and actions.

For the last two weekly administrative team meetings (every Tuesday at 8:30 am), we have discussed ways in which specific community values inform our daily work. Today we talked about "Service and Generosity," and each administrator spoke about ways in which they see these values expressed at Gaston Day. I thought some of the remarks at this morning's meeting were so relevant, practical and encouraging that I decided to share them in this blog.

Lindsie Chapman, Director of Instructional Technology, observed that one of her best opportunities to be generous and service-minded is in her daily interactions with her customers/students/faculty. She tries to deal with their concerns and needs in a cheerful, helpful and understanding manner. The rest of the administrative team agreed that this is especially important when dealing with people who are upset or angry. We hope that our generosity and commitment to service not only helps fix problems, but also reassures and calms down people who are having a hard time. Generosity and good service build relationships of trust and kindness.

Kristin Paxton-Shaw, Director of Marketing and Communications, noted that she sees generosity and service whenever individual administrators pitch in and help each other to pull off a big event or complete a major project. Without ever being asked, often one administrator will recognize that another colleague is working under a time crunch, and generously drop whatever he or she is doing to help out. "A friend in need really is a friend indeed." Gaston Day administrators are a team, and we are at our best when we help each other, especially when someone is in a jam.

Another way in which our faculty and staff are generous is the way they attend extracurricular events and support their students in endeavors outside the classroom. So often I see one of our teachers at a game or play, and I ask them why they are there. They tell me that one of their students is a participant, and they want to support them. They choose to be there, even though they are not required to do so.

Pat Rudisill, Director of Development, pointed out how incredibly generous our donors are to the school. These donors include parents, grandparents, faculty and friends. Without the generous support from all our donors, we could not afford the outstanding facilities and faculty that we have. Thank you, donors, for your amazing generosity!!

Rebekah Bing, School Secretary, marveled at all the ways that our students are involved in community service. For example, one Gaston Day grandparent recently complimented our 5th and 6th graders after they had visited a local retirement community to sing for the residents. This Gaston Day grandparent was struck by the poise and compassion that our students displayed in their interactions with the community residents.

Do you know of other ways in which members of our school community act generously? I encourage you to share examples with me, and I hope to pass them along to others. Just talking about Generosity and Service inspires us to celebrate those qualities and become even better at exemplifying them.
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