The View from My Window
October 2008
This week our campus is ablaze with glorious fall colors - yellow beeches and golden sycamores, russet oaks, scarlet maples and lime-green hackberry trees - and bright red Phillies jerseys and caps! And how about those Phillies! Yesterday in Lower School Gathering, the students, led by Profe Anny, cheered in unison: "Vamos, Phillies, Arriba Filadelfia, Dale Filadelfia!" By the time you read this, Philadelphia may have its first major sports championship in twenty-five years!
Westtown's own sports teams have been giving us thrills as well. Last week the Boys Varsity Soccer Team beat our favorite rival, George School, for the first time in more than a decade, to join the Girls Varsity Soccer and Field Hockey teams in qualifying for the Friends School League Playoffs! All three teams will be playing first-round games this week. Meanwhile, our Girls and Boys Cross-Country Teams competed in the Pennsylvania State Independent School Championship Meet last weekend, and they're running in the Delaware Independent School Championships today. Go 'Town! Congratulations to the members of our Girls Tennis Team - Kathy Klein, Claire Bentley, and Sarah Rosengarten - who qualified for the FSL Championship Tournament which was hosted by Westtown!
Congratulations also go to staff members Patrick Hubbard and Johanna Williams who came extremely close to correctly guessing the weight of the giant pumpkin (58.5 lbs.) on display in the South Room during the first Faculty and Staff Social last week. This event, which was planned by the new Staff Professional Development Committee, has as its goal creating opportunities for faculty and staff employees to come together in both work and social settings. It was a great success, and was the first of a number of events that are being planned to enhance teamwork, professional growth, leadership capacity, and a sense of community among our staff and faculty this year!
Kudos to Middle School teacher Terri James, who was named Environmental Instructor of the Year by the Brandywine Valley Association, for her work with riparian habitat restoration. The BVA is dedicated to providing water protection and environmental education for the Brandywine Valley. Terri was honored at a ceremony on October 23 for her (and her students' efforts) on behalf of Brandywine Creek.
The BVA habitat restoration was part of the 7th and 8th grade service day last week, one of many recent community service initiatives by our students. On campus projects included invasive species control and hand-dredging of the Frog Pond, while in the wider community students collected and delivered nonperishable supplies for the food bank at St. Agnes Church, conducted oral history interviews with residents at the Hickman in West Chester, and repaired bicycles for Chester Neighborhood Bike Works. Middle and Upper Schoolers participated in the Aids Walk in Philadelphia earlier this month, and students in all three divisions have been collecting "Pennies for Peace" for the Central Asia Institute to support schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. So far, we've collected over 67,000 pennies! I am inspired by our students every day, and proud to be at a school at which young people embrace service opportunities, both large and small, with joy and enthusiasm as ways of making a difference in the world.
There's been real energy around the election here at Westtown this fall. Faculty members have taken advantage of the opportunity to teach about campaign issues, voter registration and the Electoral College, and as I listen to conversations around the campus, students, especially in Upper and Middle Schools, seem to have a sense of how historic this election is. Last Friday and this Monday Upper School Collections were visited by John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden (actually, by their clever student impersonators), and there are Town Meetings scheduled for later this week. The Middle School will be voting on Thursday, while upper schoolers and the 4th and 5th grades will vote in a mock election in Central next Tuesday. And the election is also a hot topic at faculty lunch tables and in their workrooms and offices. Here's what I like about all this: just as with our sports teams, feelings are running high and people are fervent. But the tenor of all these impassioned conversations and activities is civil and respectful, and interest in the issues seems to outweigh any negative "campaigning." As 6th grade history teacher Melinda Bradley has said, "One of the best indications of our successful emphasis on the issues and student perspectives on them has been the number of 6th graders who have told me that they are still undecided and want to know more about the candidates' positions on the issues before they decide who to vote for. They are so engaged in the process and understanding their choices!"
Welcome to the French Exchange students from Notre Dame des Missions of Charenton-le-Pont, a suburb just to the east of Paris. The French Exchange, which arrived last Friday, is the first of Westtown's several reciprocal exchanges this year; our students consistently tell us what important cross-cultural learning experiences these international exchanges are. Thanks to all the host students and families, and to French teacher Gary Mencin for making the arrangements.
Another type of experiential education Westtown students benefit from is field trips. This month alone, there have been myriad trips in all three divisions: to the Camden Aquarium, Camp Mason, Tyler Arboretum, Stroud Water Reserve, National Constitution Center, Eastern State Penitentiary, and Philadelphia Art Museum. As wonderful as Westtown's campus and resources are, I think it's very important for young people to learn from the cultural, historical, scientific, and natural resources in our region and to see the broader community around us and the people there who are making a difference.
In the wake of a challenging disciplinary situation, I have received scores of heartening responses from parents, colleagues, alumni, and others, telling me their Westtown stories-what the school means or meant for them and their children. I appreciate the eloquence of these messages, the time it took to compose them, and the very act of reaching out. Having received a number of communications in the last week or so alone, please know that I'm grateful for them all. Several members of the Class of 2008 wrote moving messages of loyalty, gratitude, and support for the school from college; I will share a two brief excerpts in closing: "Speaking as a member of the Class of 2008, I know that Westtown will always be a part of us, and although we may not always agree with certain facets of Westtown, it is an amazing place that shaped us into the individuals we are now." "I am writing this email from my dorm room in Chicago. Being here is a vastly different experience than being at Westtown, but I think of my old high school all the time and I can't emphasize enough what my time there means to me...While we always understood and respected their necessity, Westtown's strict guidelines and limitations were some of the things most bemoaned by Westtown students during my time there, so the assertion that the school isn't fiercely devoted to the safety of every member of the community seems ludicrous to me. If there's one thing I always felt at Westtown, it is safe...I am holding you all in the Light."
With gratitude,
John Baird
