Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Golf Drives, the Human Drive, and MacLane Poetry

A number of years ago, Jeff Sluman, already on the professional golf tour for seven or eight years, won the Tucson Classic Golf Tournament. The win was barely mentioned in the newspapers because Sluman was not yet well known and the Tucson Tournament was over-shadowed by other competitions.

Most impressive to me, however, is that Sluman won after shooting the highest score of any of the competing pros on the opening day of the competition. That is, he finished the first of four days in dead last position. After that inauspicious beginning, Sluman triumphed, incredibly, by stringing together three strong days of lower scores than anyone else.

It would've been understandable if, after play​ing​ badly the first day, ​this​ relatively win​less​ professional had given up. But he did​ not​. ​At the time I knew​ nothing of his personality​ ​but I applauded​ his diligence and optimism. I​n this​ age of multi-million-dollar athlete slam-​dunking​ in each others​'​ faces, Sl​uman's​ example of quiet, businesslike tenacity represents a role model to make parents and teachers cry with happiness.

Aldou​​s Huxley is quoted as saying, ​"P​erhaps the greatest result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the things you have to do when they ought to be done whether you like it or not." Huxley's sentiment reminds us that although joy, inspiration, and shared happiness ​are​ the fruits of good education, none of these c​an​ be cultivated without a good dose of old-fashion​ed​ hard work.

Today's children are confronted with cultural messages that teach all too frequently th​at​ pleasure is found in the immediate, and so if we are to help our young people avoid an ethic of shallow and ephemeral happiness, we must help students discipline themselves to postpone gratification. Often the greatest boost ​to​ self-confidence and the greatest self development in a young person's life​ are when a​ student conf​ronts​ a challenge she or he thought overwhelming and discovers that she or he is, after all, able to achieve more than anticipated.

In the coming days, we will see those lessons in action as Country School students participate in the 60th Anniversary MacLane Poetry Recitation, our school's oldest tradition. As we do each year, we will hear from students who have chosen astoundingly ambitious poems — some that are hard to remember and some that are hard to understand — and they will astonish us with the sophistication of their delivery and their commitment to the poet's words.

At the same time, we will hear from children who are not fond of public speaking and who don't enjoy the limelight, and yet they, too, will commit to their poem, going beyond what we — and even they — thought possible.

And then there will inevitably be a Sluman-type scenario, one of those events that really moves a teacher. The child who, in 1st Grade, was terrified to stand up on stage and recite her poem in front of an audience, is now a 5th Grader. She rises to her feet in front of the crowd, opens her mouth to recite, and we see that she has discovered her voice.

In anticipation of the diligence and tenacity that I know we will see in the coming days, I share this video, created by a Country School parent a few years back. It is playful, but its message is serious and worth celebrating.



A second video, created by a reporter from The New London Day a few years ago, also has some important messages. Listen for Alexandra near the end of the video, when she explains why she selected the poem she did. By Louise Driscoll, it is called Hold Fast to Your Dreams.


Huxley and Sluman remind us — as, in fact, do our children — that as parents and teachers, perhaps the most significant and the most crucial challenge we face is fostering ​in​ young people an appreciation for the quiet rewards found​ in​ diligence, tenacity, and commitment. We also hope, as Sluman most certainly must have, that they have fun!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Celebrating a Country School Alumna: A Shout Out to Marina Sachs ’07, The Source's "Person of the Week"


Marina Sachs and students at Connecticut College's TEDxYouthDay.
The Country School Mission Statement calls on our students to “serve their communities and the larger world” and to “reach their highest, not only in school but also in life.” At the same time, we have developed a series of mission-supporting signature programsElmore Leadership, STEAMPublic Speaking, and Outdoor Education – specifically designed to teach our students to think broadly, develop and use their voices, and become confident, contributing leaders capable of effecting change.

This year, we have been privileged to watch Marina Sachs, a member of The Country School’s class of 2007 and a 2015 graduate of Connecticut College, live our mission. In addition to running our before- and after-school Owl’s Nest and helping out in the Farmhouse, Marina is organizing the first-ever Kindergarten-8th Grade TEDx event in Connecticut. She has engaged a committed team of 30 Country School students, and she has inspired interest from outside educators and students as well. Together with her TEDx team, she is planning an ongoing series of TEDx events that will culminate in our TEDxTheCountrySchool Spring Conference on April 23. TEDxTheCountrySchool not only speaks to our mission, it reenforces the skills we seek to develop through our signature programs: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity, empathy, teamwork, and perseverance.


While working on the TEDxTheCountrySchool program, Marina has also fostered an ongoing relationship with young people on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, where she volunteered last summer after receiving a $10,000 Davis Project for Peace Grant. In South Dakota, Marina led children and teens through a series of TED-inspired activities, encouraging discussion about important topics – or in TED vernacular, “ideas worth spreading.”

This week, Marina’s extraordinary work was recognized by The Source newspaper when they made her Madison’s Person of the Week. Click here to read Marina Sachs: Bringing TED Talks to The Country School, a profile of Marina focusing on her work on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation and all she is doing at The Country School to encourage our students to also share and discuss "ideas worth spreading" while they "reach their highest, not only in school but also in life."

The front page of today's Source.


Members of the TCS TEDx team.


For more about Marina’s work with TEDxTheCountrySchool, click here. For a recent letter from Marina to The Country School community in which she announces the TEDx conference theme and releases the conference video, click here.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Elmore Leadership: A Signature Program at The Country School

At The Country School, we strive to empower young people to reach their highest, not only in school but also in life.
There are many lines in our School Mission Statement that inspire me, both as a parent and an educator. But that particular sentence, the final line in our school’s guiding document, gets at the heart of what I think we most want for our students.

Which is why I am thrilled to announce the establishment of the Elmore Leadership Program. Named for longtime Country School trustee Robert W. (Bill) Elmore, the aim of the Elmore Leadership Program is to develop our students into civic-minded citizens who will become tomorrow's leaders - individuals committed to practicing The Country School's core values of kindness, respect, and responsibility.
Through a carefully crafted series of activities, programs, and experiences, the Elmore Leadership Program instills in students strong motivational and analytical skills. All students, from PreSchool-Grade 8, learn the power of teamwork, collaboration, empathetic listening, and appreciative inquiry by taking turns leading and letting others lead, maximizing the talents and backgrounds of all members of a team.

STEAM, Outdoor Education adventures, public speaking opportunities, MacLane Poetry recitations, musical and dramatic performances, athletic team responsibilities, and service learning initiatives are all part of the Elmore Leadership Program. Assessments, self-reflection, and feedback are also important components of the leadership learning process, taking place year by year in an atmosphere that allows for mistakes, growth, and resilience.




Our program recognizes that at each grade level, students will develop leadership skills in different ways and at different times. Through our five-year continuum of school-wide yearly themes (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self Control – or CARES*), a young student might begin as a silent leader, setting examples for others, but then become more outspoken in a later grade once confident in his/her leadership ability.
Older and younger students are paired together for peer-to-peer experiences that include Reading Buddies, cross grade level activities, and other opportunities that call for leadership and development. The Elmore Leadership Program culminates in the Capstone Independent Study Project in 8th Grade, launching our young leaders on to secondary school.
Through the Elmore Leadership Program, we welcome visitors to campus who share with students their experiences as leaders. Recently, students in Grades 4-8 heard from the inaugural Elmore Leadership speaker, recently retired Madison 1st Selectman Fillmore McPherson. During his visit, Mr. McPherson shared his thoughts about leadership as well as stories from his years in the Navy and local government. Students, in turn, displayed leadership, with one 8th Grader eloquently and confidently introducing our speaker, a second 8th Grader graciously thanking him at the conclusion of his talk, and a handful of students, some as young as 4th Grade, asking earnest, thoughtful questions of our guest.
We believe so strongly in our leadership program, that when parents see their child’s report card, they will notice a section devoted to leadership. This is not to be a “graded” assessment, but more of a narrative explaining the ways in which their child is developing as a leader. Our hope is that by pointing out, and then reflecting back on, these experiences and stories, all of us will become more conscious of what it means to be a leader. And ultimately, we all will be empowered to “reach our highest, not only in school but also in life.”
At The Country School, our students learn that they can make a difference in the world. Pulitzer-Prize winning leadership scholar James MacGregor Burns wrote, "The call for leaders is one of the keynotes of our time." Through our focused curriculum and a community and culture that support their efforts, Country School students are well-equipped to answer that call.
The Elmore Leadership Initiative was created in honor of longtime Country School trustee Bill Elmore, an educator, lawyer, and organizational development consultant who modeled a form of leadership based on listening, teamwork, and appreciative inquiry. When Mr. Elmore passed away in 2009, a committee was formed to honor his legacy and create a framework for teaching students the leadership skills he embraced and exhibited in his daily life. The Elmore Leadership Program grew from those discussions.

* Principles and Practices of Responsive Classroom. Center for Responsive Schools, Inc. 2015. Web. 13 October 2015.


Learn more about leadership and The Country School's other signature programs at http://www.thecountryschool.org/signature-programs