A Bright Future

One of the most reassuring aspects of my recent announcement about my retirement at the end of the 2022-2023 school year is Davidson Hobson's selection as the next head of school. Over the past five years, I have watched Davidson's continued growth into a consummate independent school educator and professional. He understands independent school admissions, marketing, communications, fundraising and strategic planning as well as anyone. And the results he has achieved in those areas are proof of his expertise. But more than that, because Mr. Hobson has overseen the Admissions Office he is intimately knowledgeable of every aspect and detail of Gaston Day School's academic program and student life. He
knows this school and is our friend. 

The Hobson Family

Davidson's outgoing personality and inclusive leadership will serve him well as new head. He also is incredibly well educated for this position. Many of you probably know that Davidson has an MBA from Wake Forest. But he also will complete this summer a Masters in Education in the prestigious Klingenstein Fellows Program at Columbia University. Columbia is the top education school in America, and the competitive Klingenstein Program is the only one designed for aspiring independent school leaders. Only 50 students are accepted into the program every two years, and Klingenstein Fellows are the best and brightest among the independent school world. Davidson's selection and participation in the Klingenstein Program is a tremendous honor. It places him in the front rank of young independent school leaders. Gaston Day is so fortunate to have someone with Davidson's extraordinary education. 

On another front, it does look as if the pandemic is gradually subsiding. I don't want to jinx it by saying that and have a new variant arise. But it is awfully nice to be mask optional at Gaston Day. I am still wearing mine inside to stay safe. But for those who feel well protected, it is great to see your smiles. The last two years have been hard and straining for everyone. I appreciate how this school community has handled all the challenges. We could all use some sunshine and blossoms.

I also know that world affairs continue to be so troubling with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

photo by Ian Greene

But even so, I hope we will take some solace in the good things that are happening here at Gaston Day. Spring time is on the horizon. Our pair of red-shouldered hawks have begun their courtship and are frequent morning visitors to the front of campus. 

Remember, March is a fickle month for weather. It can be seventy degrees one day and snow the next. I never feel safe about winter weather until April 1. But the jonquils are blooming and my blueberry bushes are budding. Your can feel new life beginning to emerge. Given all that we have come through and experienced, and the ongoing dangers abroad, it feels both overdue and welcomed. Stay hopeful and know that Gaston Day School's future is bright. 

The Continuing Relevance of My Friend Billy Palmer's Commencement Address

Some of you know that many of my closest lifelong friends are former Gaston Day classmates from my years here as a student. Dolph and Liz Sumner, Gene Matthews, and Pam and Andy Warlick were all classmates. Bill Palmer and Walter Gayle were a year ahead of me. After Gaston Day, Bill Palmer graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Campbell University Law School, and then was one of two attorneys who established the respected Charlotte law firm of Kirk, Palmer, and Thigpen. Bill died too early several years ago from brain cancer. He was universally respected and admired in the Charlotte legal community and among his wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Those of us who knew and loved Bill still miss him dearly. But we also celebrate his good influence on our lives and how much his friendship meant to us. 

Recently, Bill's son Reid was cleaning out his father's papers and found a copy of Bill's 1974 Gaston Day School Commencement Speech which he made as class president. Reid sent me a copy. Reading it was very moving. But I was also struck by how so much of Bill's description of Gaston Day's exceptional quality in those first years remains true today. I am sharing the address with you in the hope that you find the remarks of such a fine man and his insights into the value of Gaston Day education just as relevant today as they were then. CLICK HERE

On a lighter note, Bill's commencement address mentions the serious financial contribution--$35.00--that each member of the junior class was expected to make toward the cost of the Junior-Senior prom. Even adjusting for inflation, costs have definitely skyrocketed!!

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

For those of you who are grandparents, you know what a constant joy it is to watch your grandchildren grow up. And you cherish every endearing thing they say or do. So please indulge me in sharing something special that my two years, eight months old grandson James Isaac Rankin said last week. Believe it or not, I think it has great value for all of us, and that's why I am devoting this blog post to it. And, yes, I admit that I am a doting grandfather. 

Here is some necessary background. My son Isaac (Gaston Day Class of 2007) and daughter-in-law Becca are parents of our only grandson James Isaac. Happily, Becca is expecting another boy in August. So James Isaac has a baby brother on the way. Becca is a wonderful mother who balances love with a no nonsense attitude that keeps James Isaac--who is mischievous--in line. One of her favorite sayings when she wants James Isaac to pitch in and clean up a mess he has made--when his toys are scattered all over the floor or there is a messy table that needs to be cleaned up--is "Teamwork makes the dream work." This is Becca's shorthand slogan for letting James Isaac know that everybody in the family is expected to do their part. That many hands make light work. That we are all in this together and everyone needs to contribute. What a wonderful, brief proverb that captures so much in so few words about how success and happiness depend on each of us doing our part. "Teamwork makes the dream work!!" gets said often in Isaac and Becca's household. 

Recently, father Isaac and son James Isaac have been trying to help out even more around the house because mother Becca is almost six-months pregnant. In particular, they have been picking up a lot of takeout meals from local restaurants so Becca won't have to prepare them at home. Last week the dynamic duo of Rankin men went to a local barbecue restaurant to do just that. Because Isaac cannot leave James Isaac in his car seat while he goes into the restaurant to pick up the food and pay for it, both of them have to put on their masks and go into the restaurant together. Like all of us, James Isaac does not like wearing his mask. So after they parked at the barbecue joint and were ready to go into the restaurant, Isaac turned to James Isaac in the back seat and explained that he had to put on his mask, that it was important to do so, and that he really needed him to cooperate even though it was no fun wearing a mask. 

After making his speech, Isaac asked the all important question, "James Isaac, do you understand me and will you wear your mask?" James Isaac smiled, looked at his Dad, and replied simply, "Teamwork makes the dream work." This absolutely cracked his father up because Isaac had no idea that young James Isaac had actually internalized and understood what his mother had been telling him so often at home. But he had!! James Isaac already understands that everybody has to pitch in and do their part, even when it isn't always fun to do so, in order to make good things happen. 

The more I have thought about this, the more convinced I am that "Teamwork makes the dream work." is one of the keys to a good life and to building a good community. It says so much that is wise and true in so few words. Accomplishing good things requires all of us sacrificing and working together toward a common goal, whether that is picking up a barbecue dinner or our toys or playing on an athletic team together or working on a group science project. 

If James Isaac will always remember that "Teamwork makes the dream work" then he is going to make everything he does better. 

Best GDS April Fool's Prank Ever!

Day before yesterday, March 30, Gaston Day parent Beth Jarman dropped off her son Alton in the Lower School drop-off, and then pulled over and rolled down her window to tell me the following. Beth is married to my first cousin-once removed Jay Jarman. So we know each other outside school.

Here was her story. She had just gotten her haircut a few days ago and attended son Henry's middle-school baseball game at the Frances Henry Field the night before. Several children and adults at the game mistook her for Rebekah Bing. Beth didn't really know Rebekah, who is my executive administrative assistant, but now, after being called Mrs. Bing so many times, she found out who Rebekah was. End of story.

(l to r): Rebekah Bing & Beth Jarman

Guess what. With Beth's new haircut, she and Rebekah really do look a lot alike! In fact, they could almost be twins!

After carpool, I went in to my office and told Rebekah about Beth's story of mistaken identity. We both had a good laugh. I didn't think anything more about the whole matter until the next morning, once again in Lower School carpool drop-off. As Beth turned in ---yes, I know all your cars--it occurred to me that it would be a great prank to switch out Rebekah and Beth at school, and see if Beth could fool people at Gaston Day. Then--like a gift from the Universe--it dawned on me that it was the day before April Fool's day. The timing was perfect!!

I pitched my idea to Beth in the carpool line right then. She was all in. Next I presented the same thing to Rebekah. She was immediately very excited and took the plan and ran with it. Rebekah and Beth schemed and coordinated. Here was what they devised and carried out today. Rebekah had two identical athletic shirts and masks. She and Beth dressed just alike and wore their hair the same way. Rebekah sent all the top GDS administrators a message from me telling them to pick up an important document at the front desk this morning. Beth came in about 9 am today. Rebekah hid in my office. I ran an errand because I was so excited that I thought I might blow their cover if I stayed. 

We set up hidden cameras. We had Melissa Fayssoux in on the joke. She sat in the office and answered any tough questions that came up as a part of casual conversation. Beth, in her Rebekah Bing disguise, handed out the envelopes with a message inside that told each recipient that they had been April Fool pranked and to come back in 45 minutes to learn more. In came the administrators, one at a time to pick up their envelopes from me. Some of them figured out that Beth was an impostor immediately. Some of them figured it out after about 15 seconds! Some of them never figured it out!! All of this is captured on video!!!

We all had so much fun!! After revealing our prank to the administration, Beth and Rebekah walked around the school and messed with people's minds. One would say "hey" to someone, and then the other would follow behind twenty yards and do the same thing. The confusion and double takes were hilarious. 

I hope Gaston Day will always be a place that laughs a lot, and does not take itself to seriously. We sure did today. Best GDS April Fool's prank ever!! 

Are you really sure that was Mrs. Bing you were talking to today?

Red-Shouldered Hawks in Love: A Wildlife Misidentification and Further Drama at Gaston Day

My earlier blog posts on what I thought was a pair of red-tailed hawks elicited two interesting responses from followers. The first was from Caroline Ilse, a 2017 GDS graduate, Virginia Tech senior, and self-described "wildlife conservationist." After reading my post, Caroline correctly pointed out that our pair are Red-Shouldered Hawks, not Red-Tailed. She is absolutely right. I went online to bird identification sites, and the differences are real, if subtle. The Red-Shouldered Hawk has more mottling on its upper chest. The Red-Tailed Hawk has a whiter upper chest and a redder tail (hence its name). Thank you, Caroline, for setting me straight. At Gaston Day, we like accuracy and admitting our mistakes.  

Other news. Legendary former Lower School Head Marianna Davis read my post and called to ask if it
was possible that the same pair of hawks had a territory that extended to her house on Robinson Road. Her house is probably three miles from Gaston Day the way the hawk flies. She has seen two hawks generally fitting the description of the Gaston Day pair flying around her property. So I told her to try to determine whether her pair were Red-Shouldered. If they are, then chances are they are the same birds. 

Isn't it neat to think that Mrs. Davis may be connected to Gaston Day once again through our hawks? 

Mrs. Davis, has anyone ever called you "legendary" before? If not, it is well deserved.

Finally, I have been watching carefully each morning to see which way the hawks enter campus. They are flying in from the southwest. So their nest must be somewhere on that edge of our property or farther toward the airport. 

They still come to the flagpole almost every morning during carpool. Then they often fly down and alight either on the soccer goals or one of the posts behind the goals that support the backstop nets. Then after a few minutes, they take flight and abandon campus entirely for their hunting pursuits and parts unknown--maybe soaring over to Mrs. Davis's place.

Who knew that something so simple and beautiful could also be so absorbing?

(photo by Ian Greene)

Red-Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama at Gaston Day School

 For those of you interested in a great natural history read, I recommend Red-Tails in Love: Pale Male's Story--A True Wildlife Drama in Central Park. It is the true story of a pair of red-tailed hawks that were discovered by a group of New York City's Central Park bird watchers after the raptors built their nest on a Fifth Avenue apartment building across from the park. As seen through the eyes of the bird watchers, the fate of the birds and their fledglings is spellbinding.

Gaston Day has its own red-tail hawk drama unfolding right before our eyes. Have you seen the large red-tail hawk that often sits atop the flag pole at carpool drop-off each morning? It is a magnificent bird, and many of the students who enter the school point it out. This morning, Mike Greene, upper-school math teacher, and his son Ian followed the bird after it glided down to sit on the top of the soccer goal on the field's west end. Ian snapped the pictures below. 

I have been watching this hawk and its mate--yes, there are two of them--for several weeks now. One is much smaller than the other, and I assumed that the smaller bird was the female. But I was wrong. So the smaller hawk is the male. The larger hawk is the female. When I researched red-tailed hawks for this post, I learned that the female is usually three inches larger than the male. They will have a nest somewhere nearby this spring, and Gaston Day will have a hatch of young red-tail chicks.

After reading about red-tails on the North Carolina Wildlife site, I understand what our pair is doing each morning. The first thing that a red-tail hawk does after leaving the nest at daybreak is find a high perch nearby. That is what is happening when our female flies up on the flagpole during morning carpool. Her nest has to be close. Has anyone seen it? Be on the look out and let's try to find it. I am going to watch carefully to see what direction she comes from as she flies to the flagpole. That way I may be able to determine the patch of woods where the nest is. So our lady red-tail on the flagpole is just waking up and starting her day. 

After she leaves the flagpole, she will fly aloft 200 or 300 yards up in the sky for as long as two or three hours without stopping or lighting. That is, unless she sees something on the ground to eat. With incredible vision, she is scanning for small rodents, rabbits, reptiles, and even insects. If she spots one, she descends in a steep, 45-degree dive, falling almost like a rock to hit her prey. Once a red-tail focuses on a potential prey, it seldom misses its target. 

Other things I learned in doing research for this post. Did you know that a group of two or more hawks flying together are known as a "boil" or a "knot"? I didn't either.

Seeing our red-tails has already gotten me thinking about the chicks they will hatch in the spring. Won't it be wonderful if we see two or three immature red-tails with their mother out near the flagpole? 

For me, the constancy of nature has been encouraging during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the red-tails at least, things are normal and routine. It will be for us too, you know. The vaccinations are coming soon to protect us. 

In the meantime, I am enjoying the simple beauty of Gaston Day's red-tail hawks and the wonder of creation that they reveal. If you have not seen them, check out the flagpole each morning. 

(photos courtesy of Ian Greene)

 

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)

NCISAA Division II Soccer Champions!!

Winning the NCISAA Division II Soccer Championship is a cause for huge celebration and rejoicing, and no one is more excited or proud than am I. Winning any state title is a remarkable accomplishment. We had previously done that only four times in my 19 years at Gaston Day: three in girls basketball and one in boys basketball. And it had been a long time since then. We have come so close in boys soccer on numerous occasions, including several runners-up finishes over the last few  years--one just last year. The same has been true in girls volleyball the last two years. The boys victory in the state championship this year was especially consoling because we had just lost the girls volleyball match earlier the same day.

The contest took place on Westchester Country Day's magnificent field against Hickory Christian. Gaston Day already was at a disadvantage because Nate Granetz, one of our best players, was unable to play. The first half ended with Hickory Christian up 1-0, and this was all the more disconcerting because we clearly outplayed their team. I tried to remain positive and not think the worst.

Perhaps with only five minutes elapsed in the second half, Davis Spencer, who was named to the all-state team, scored on a beautiful kick from the right side to tie the game. Perhaps 10 minutes later, Davis went down with an injured knee cap, and again I feared the worst. Davis was out for the rest of the game.

Then something profoundly unexpected and stirring happened. Coach Greg Lekavich moved Ben Spencer, a talented ninth grader up front, where he had played for much of the season. That made sense. But his second substitution was far more bold and unanticipated. He put Chase Owens at the other forward, an eighth grader, who along with Ben Nigbor has starred on the middle school team and only been called up the varsity for the playoffs.

What happened next still puts a lump in my throat and gives me watery eyes as I write this. Those two--one a ninth grader and one an eighth grader with no varsity experience--were able to pressure Hickory Christian's defense and keep the ball on their end of the field for much of the rest of the game. There was a moment during the game when I started crying as I watched Chase Owens dribble past and outrun several Hickory Christian defenders as he sped toward their goal. We did not score on that possession. But the sight of Chase Owens playing fearlessly and beyond his age and experience will always be an unforgettable GDS athletic memory for me. Chase and Ben Spencer were simply beautiful. They could have been--and maybe should have been--overawed, hesitant and timid. They had every right to be. But they were not. Instead, they rose to a moment of greatness and were bold, fierce and attacking. And they held Hickory Christian's team at bay and kept them penned on their own end of the field much of the time. The whole thing was totally moving and inspiring, and I shed more than one tear as I watched them.

Meanwhile Gaston Day's defense hung tough. I don't know how many headers David Efird made on defense, but it was lots and lots. Jack Dee, Jack D'Amore, and Ethan Horkey were also rock solid on defense. Payne Fulghum was great in goal.

With about six minutes left in regulation, finally, it happened on a corner kick. David Efird, who towers over everyone else, headed a perfectly placed kick from Jack Dee into the goal. And we celebrated wildly, but briefly, because there was still time left and Hickory Christian was dangerous. Somehow, the combination of tenacious defense and aggressive offense kept Hickory Christian from scoring. Our other eighth grader, Ben Nigbor, came in and played great defense. We had won our state championship with a final score of 2-1.

Our victory was gratifying at so many levels. First of all, Coach Greg Lekavich, who has led such an amazing soccer program at GDS, got his first, well-deserved state championship. I think his coaching and, in particular, his combination of Ben Spencer and Chase Owens was brilliant. It was also Casey Field, Athletic Director, first state championship and a tribute to him, the entire athletic department and its coaches and players. Let's not forget all the varsity boys soccer players who accomplished so much this season and who came through in the championship when it mattered the most.

I also want to note that Hickory Christian was a great opponent, and the level of sportsmanship during the game was unusually high. Congratulations to Hickory Christian on a great season.

Wow!! What a great day to be a Spartan!! What a fantastic victory!! State champions at last!! Congratulations to the coaches, the team, the parents, the fans, and the entire school. We are the champions!!

More Champions of Our Hearts

I realize that I have hesitated to write about the state championship our boys varsity soccer team won because I feel so badly for our girls volleyball team in their state championship loss. And I know how wrong that is at several levels. So to set things right, I am writing two separate blogs: the first to celebrate the girls' achievements and the second the boys' state championship. Both deserve our thanks and praise.

I am starting with the girls. Our team was seeded first in the state playoffs and advanced to the finals against the number two seeded, Davidson Day, whom we had beaten in the regular season and who is a perennial state power in girls volleyball. For the second year in a row from my perspective--and you all know how biased I am when it comes to Spartan athletics--so please consider the source--I thought the officiating in the final game was completely different than in the regular season or any of the previous playoff games. The difference involved a much stricter enforcement of double-hit rule. The lead official called both sides for double hits. Again in my prejudiced opinion--those calls had not been made in similar circumstances in any previous games. Importantly for the outcome of the match, the referee called more double-hit faults on our team than on Davidson Day. These penalties completely altered the GDS style of play as our players completely changed the way they usually play to avoid further double-hit penalties.

Do I think that this stricter interpretation of the rules cost us the championship? Truthfully, I am not sure, but I wonder. Although Davidson Day is a fantastic team, and they played exceptionally well, I guess I will always wonder whether the best team won or not. And I do not understand why the officiating was not more consistent throughout the year in girls volleyball. Why does the officiating become so much stricter as involves double hits only in the state championship game? Fair competition in a state championship game requires consistent interpretation of the rules.
The unprecedented strictness of the refereeing in the championship game made it much harder for me to accept that the best team had won. So now that I have gotten all of this off my chest, I want to congratulate Davidson Day and believe with all my heart that they are a fantastic team and so deserving of great praise. Congratulations Davidson Day on being the 2019 State Champions in girls volleyball!

My disappointment with our girls volleyball loss was magnified because of the incredible respect and admiration I have for Coach Derek Bing and the senior volleyball players. We have watched the GDS volleyball program grow into a state power over the last five years because of the dedication and talent of our players and coaches. I wanted so badly for them to win the championship! Guess what, our varsity girls do not need a state championship to validate their greatness. Night before last, I attended the girls volleyball program banquet and here is what I saw. All of our girls volleyball players are winners and "champions of our hearts"--a term I first used to describe the 2017 State Runner-Up boys basketball team. At every age, team and level, our girls volleyball players embody the best values of our school: team before self, tireless preparation, and fierce in competition. And they are totally dedicated to each other, their teams, their coaches, and their sport!!

The varsity girls volleyball team is simply the best. Our school celebrates both a fantastic season and the amazing careers of our seniors. You have made us proud and filled us with awe and joy as we watched you play. We will always remember how hard you worked and how much you loved your team, your sport and your school. On behalf of a grateful school, thank you!

We can't wait to watch our volleyball players next year!

FallFest, My Green Egg, and Big Thursday

Once again FallFest was a smash hit, surpassing all previous records for money raised, and making life fun for everyone. The weather cooperated with cool temperatures and overcast skies. I had two personal favorites that I watched. First was the smallest kids flying down the mammoth, inflatable slide. Especially Leo Perlman--Kim Perlman's two year old--who is absolutely fearless and who constantly stretches the limits of his mother's sense of caution. Leo rocks!!! Second were the middle schoolers confined in a padded, circular enclosure with a large, padded, mechanical arm that constantly swept around a central pivot, knocking down everything in its path. The participants tried to jump over the arms as it approached. As an observer, I could not decide whether it hurt worse to get bopped by the padded arm or nearly break your neck diving over it. The kids loved it. No one over twenty years old would dare to try it--you would have pulled every muscle in your body.

Did you hear that I won the Green Egg grill? I have never won any raffle in my life. Some years for FallFest, I just make a donation rather than buying raffle tickets. Why bother? I don't ever win. But this year I could not resist that gorgeous Green Egg, and I purchased five tickets for $20 and single shot them into the Green Egg basket. I told all the volunteers gathered in the lobby that I wanted to make sure that they knew if I won, I was keeping my prize.

Guess what? I WON!! I love my Green Egg and will grill on it for years to come!! I told one Gaston Day parent that I surmised that the law of averages finally caught up with me. I promise there was no honor code violation involved in my victory. I won fair and square. I am thrilled!!

Thank you, Parents Association, for bringing the entire community so much joy and for raising so much money for Gaston Day School. Michelle Kinsley, Elizabeth Blackburn, Susie Mark, Angie Acosta and all the other volunteers deserve our congratulations and praise. Thank you!!!!!

Turning away from FallFest to another topic, did you know that this coming Thursday is our Big Thursday, our annual Gaston Day Fund giving day? Our purpose is to generate enthusiasm and to establish momentum in giving to the Gaston Day Fund. Did you know that your tuition dollars only cover about 90% of the cost of a student's education? The Gaston Day School Fund is a tax-deductible, voluntary contribution that gives the school the resources it needs to provide great education. Since the majority of our budget is directed toward salaries, gifts to the Gaston Day Fund really do allow us to give fair raises and pay our teachers competitively. Please give generously, as able, to the Gaston Day Fund on Big Thursday so that Gaston Day can continue to deliver the highest quality education possible.

Have you bought your pumpkin yet? Halloween is just around the corner. As always, thanks for your commitment to Gaston Day.

More Random Thoughts and Musings

After roughly a month of school, let me share some early thoughts and reasons for celebration. First of all, the new entrance and fence is a tremendous improvement in the appearance of our campus. Thanks to an amazingly generous, anonymous donor, the new gates, fence and sign are all being paid for without any cost to the school. To my eye, the new fence ties in perfectly with the new bronze-colored window treatments that the 50th Anniversary Campaign funded. I really do think that Gaston Day School looks better than I can remember in all my time here. Don't you agree?

In a similar vein, my new office is so attractive, comfortable and inviting. I love it! It allows me to meet with families in a much more pleasant, professional environment. It allows me to host meetings of up to ten people in my office around my new conference table. And the space is so inviting and impressive to individuals who come to Gaston Day for the first time. Just yesterday, two University of Virginia representatives came to campus to meet with me and give me an update on my alma mater. Without prompting, both of them commented on how beautiful and attractive my office is. I told them that their timing was perfect: if they had come to visit me last spring, they would have been crammed into my old office! I could not help but conclude that they were more impressed with Gaston Day because of my attractive new space.

Both the UVA reps were recent university graduates, and both previously graduated from prestigious independent schools--one in Virginia and the other in Florida. As a part of our conversation, I mentioned our recent "Number 8" ranking among North Carolina independent schools by Niche. One of the UVa reps responded that our ranking was especially remarkable because North Carolina has so many strong independent schools, and then she singled our Ravenscroft School in Raleigh as an example. I was proud to tell her that Ravenscroft was ranked only one spot ahead of Gaston Day School in the Niche report. I believe the UVA duo left our campus impressed with Gaston Day, and they should be!!

The start of school has been smooth as all our new students and teachers are integrating themselves into our school culture. There are more than 100 new students this year, and so I am busy learning all the new names. My method is this. Rebekah Bing has gotten me pictures of all the new students from Pre School to 12th Grade, and I am studying the new faces and connecting their names. Please be patient with me as I work to know everyone's name. I think it is important.

We are so excited that our total enrollment is over 500 students again, and with 511 students, we are very close to the largest enrollment in all my years here. Hopefully, we will reach the 515 number some time this year and achieve that status as largest ever.

I have been to varsity golf, tennis, soccer and volleyball matches, and middle school and junior varsity soccer and volleyball games. All of our teams are strong and several will compete for state honors, I believe. The girls varsity volleyball was victorious over previously unbeaten Davidson Day School night before last, and it was a thrilling match. Those two volleyball programs are arguably the two best in state among 2A independent schools. So at least for the moment, we may lay claim to being the best  2A girls independent school volleyball team in North Carolina. If you haven't been to one of our varsity girls volleyball games, you are missing one of the most exciting, action-packed sporting events imaginable. Our girls are skillful and fierce! How in the world they hit the ball so hard and are able to return the high-velocity spikes from the other team is something to behold. I encourage you to attend any Gaston Day sporting event.

That's enough for now. What a great school we have the privilege of being a part of! Go Spartans!!

Random Thoughts on a Beautiful Day in May at Gaston Day

With less than two weeks left in the school year, I find myself considering how much we have to be grateful for at Gaston Day School. Walking around campus just a few minutes ago, I saw happy students working on a project together outside the Pamela Kimbrell Warlick Visual and Performing Arts Center. That incredible facility will be 20 years old next year, and it has been a driving force in creating our unique school culture. The fine arts enliven and enrich all aspects of a GDS education. Walk into the PKW lobby--just as I did--and look at the student art on display. It will inspire you and reveal the creativity of our student artists.

In that same PKW lobby today, the book fair is being held. Parent volunteers direct and staff the whole enterprise, and a significant portion of the profits go to purchase books for our library. Librarian Karen Ellison told me just this morning how essential the Book Fair proceeds are to maintaining an up-to-date library collection. Thank you Parents Association volunteers for making the Book Fair such a longstanding success.

On each of the last two mornings, Carolyn Senter, Director of College Counseling, has brought a senior to my office to inform her that she has qualified to be valedictorian and salutatorian. Annabelle Fulghum and Anna Claire Rhyne are the 2019 valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively. Both have attended Gaston Day School for their entire academic careers, and it is a real point of pride to have two such outstanding young women achieve this honor. For me personally, to have been head of school during Annabelle's and Anna Claire's entire education here is especially gratifying. Both these young women represent the absolute best in our students.

Both the boys tennis and golf teams have returned from state competition. The tennis team in Goldsboro, and the golf team in Pinehurst. In both cases they competed hard and well. Congratulations to both teams and thank you to their coaches for investing so much time and hard work into the season. Overall, the athletic program has enjoyed a great year, and we rank in the top 10 in the Wells Fargo Cup standings for the best overall athletic program in our classification in state independent schools. Congratulations players, coaches, and athletic administrators!!

This is the testing season at Gaston Day. AP Exams have been given in the gym recently. Final exams are just over a week away. With high-stakes testing comes anxiety. We are all trying to walk quietly in the Henry Center and give reassuring smiles to everyone. If we don't, Mrs. Senter is on watch, and she will fiercely defend her test-taking domain. Thank you, Mrs. Senter for making sure that our test takers have the most conducive environment to achieve high scores.

Baccalaureate and graduation are just around the corner. The Rev. Joan Martin, Covenant Village Chaplain, and Wofford College President Nayef Samhat will be our leader and commencement speaker, again respectively. Hope to see everyone at these outstanding occasions.

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.