October 1, 2007
Dear Parents;
Now that September has been overtaken by October, I can safely say that there is no turning back. Schools in New England manifest their energy, spirit and best colors in this month of the ebbing of green and the emergence of the textures and hues of autumn.
Students are now comfortable with routines, have discovered new friendships and continued to build on the familiar connections. I am ready to offer a few points picked up from my initiation into things Foote.
I like what I sense about kids’ involvement in school. At our opening Middle School morning meeting, I spoke about three characteristics I wanted the students to develop. The first two go together – poise and mobility – having the confidence to adapt to new and unexpected changes and surprises with composure. The third point had to do with attitude – one thing that a student owns and comes to school with everyday. I asked that they work on setting out with an attitude that is one of respect – the respect for this school and each other. I’d have to say that I am pleased with the initial efforts to inculcate these standards of behavior.
Morning meetings have become important gathering times for each division. While it may be a chore at times to mobilize so many kids from various parts of the campus, the purpose of the community time is to develop a common mood and to share in musical, mirthful, and serious moments. It is important for all students to be a part of this Morning Meeting, so I urge those with a propensity to be tardy to arrive on time so that the taking of attendance can be done efficiently and that what is growing to be significant Foote moments be captured by all.
Each day I try to find the time to walk the hallways and meander about the pathways.
I have discovered that the Loomis Place campus has extraordinary beauty in its architecture and planting. I am used to wide open spaces and the natural setting of 600 acres of fields, and forest. Here there are small, well-tended patches of flowers, shrubs, bushes, and trees. The butterfly garden outside my office is a source of daily delight; especially when I spot a child standing near to watch the monarchs fluttering from blossom to blossom.
I peered closely into a grove of trees and was impressed to discover a ropes course of both high and low elements. What a good thing it is to provide this sort of adventure education and dynamic to kids. Within that grove lies the opportunity to mold poise, mobility and respect while working on emotional and physical challenges.
During faculty orientation at Indian Mountain one day was set aside for the administration and new faculty to engage in problem solving and ropes course initiatives. Over the fourteen years I had participated in these exercises there was one called the Lava River Initiative that I and several administrators had attempted four or five times. As a veteran, I would stand in the background while those new to the challenge pondered and discussed strategy as to how we could get across this imaginary molten lava flow, stepping only on the “lava rocks.” We somehow had to get from one shore line to the next (demarcated by ropes), and all sixteen were to accomplished this feat while staying connected and never losing contact with those rocks. Eventually I had to say something. I didn’t want to give away any secrets, so I measured my suggestions as possibilities rather than certainties. We had one failed attempt, though we were well on our way to completing this exercise on the first try. The first failure made it easy to recognize what we needed to do (concentrate and listen) in order to traverse the fictional river and reach the mythical Carnival Cruise Line ship waiting our arrival.
Upon conclusion, we stood in a circle and talked about the experience, about the planning, about who rose to leadership and who recognized what it would take to get this done.
The point I would offer parents, kids, and faculty is that I probably failed fifteen times with teams before each group was successful once. How much more we learned when we in our strain broke connections or lifted our feet off the lava rock only to see it float away into the make-believe lava. By talking out the reasons for failure, we soon discovered the path to success.
Isn’t that what school is about, whether one is struggling with letter formation, the times table, the first attempts at reading, solving an algebraic equation, parsing a complicated sentence in Latin, or looking for the hidden meaning in This Boy’s Life.
What a wondrous journey it is that we all share.
Respectfully,
C. Dary Dunham
Interim Head of School |