Volume 26, Issue 3
2022-2023
About U.S.
A Publishing Tradition of The Unquowa School
A Message From the Head of School
A
fter assembly each week, I post the closing poem I’ve read on my office door so that anyone who wants may read it throughout the week. This year’s final assembly poem, “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver, is still stuck on my door, so every summer morning I am reminded of its haunting question: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? On the days when I remember to ask myself Oliver’s nagging question, I must work as hard as most folks to be sure that I am not filling my “precious days” with nothing but measurable tasks of achievement. Similarly, when I meet with families who are considering Unquowa for their children’s education, I always make sure to emphasize a similar goal for them. Beyond a strong academic/ intellectual education, our ultimate goal is to provide a lasting social/ emotional curriculum throughout their children’s time at Unquowa that will contribute to their eventually becoming adults who are personally happy, who are genuinely satisfied by the work they do each day, and who are ethical. This goal requires a deeper set of daily classroom practices that are above the expected standards of strong academics we also provide. It demands our attention as a school to small, quiet, consistent practices that can risk getting lost in the busyness of academics. Consequently, I am always grateful when someone assures me that we are on the right path when we spend time on keeping these goals in our sights. Such was the case this past June when our commencement speaker addressed the appropriate place of achievement in our lives, and our eighth grade valedictorian followed that speech with his own, remarking on the school culture here at Unquowa that fosters consistent camaraderie and the overriding family atmosphere that supported his overall success and preparation for high school. Our commencement speaker, Dr. Matthew Croasmun, Director of the Life Worth Living Program at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Faith Initiative Director at Grace Farms, spoke to our
graduates about personal worth and how it is established in one’s life. Achievement, he assured them, is not sturdy enough to serve as the foundation of personal worth. There are many ways in which to build such a foundation, he assured them, and being loved by your community is one. Having led their series of Life Worth Living retreats at Grace Farms this past school year, Dr. Croasmun warned the graduating class that “what matters most in life will not demand your attention” so don’t forget to “make space for the big questions.” In his valedictory speech that followed Croasmun’s remarks, this year’s William J. Grippin award winner and valedictorian Ty Srihari spoke about his entry to Unquowa as a fifth grader and the sense of belonging that his teachers and classmates immediately fostered in him. Yes, he said, he now has close friends here, but he assured his audience that he could connect with any and all of his classmates and that disagreements with them are few and far between. Importantly, over the years when they have arisen, his teachers have modeled how to solve disagreements and repair those relationships. We really feel “like one big family.” The support of his classmates and teachers have provided, as Croasmun suggested, the foundation of personal worth that supported his achievement. Don’t get me wrong. Achievement is essential and exhilarating, and when accompanied by consistent social/emotional education and the modeling of ethical behavior, it is an unstoppable force in the lives of young people. So let us as adults remember that we hold their “wild and precious” lives in our care. May we always pay attention to what matters most in guiding those lives so that each of them may continue to make space for the big questions as they grow. Wishing you all a restful end of summer with family and friends,
Sharon Lauer, Head of School To hear Commencement speeches visit: unquowa.org/commencement-23/