In my ninth grade English class we are heading into a study of poetry in the first half of this semester. In order to make a transition from our work with novels (Purple Hibiscus), plays (A Raisin in the Sun), and short stories last fall, we started this week by reading the short story “A […]
Purpose of Education?: “The World Needs You to be Smart”
[Last January I handed the following piece to the seniors in my 21st Century Short Fiction and Poetry Class. We were just about to finish a collection of short stories by Stephen Millhauser (Dangerous Laughter) and begin a poetry collection by Louise Gluck (A Village Life). A contemporary of mine at Sewanee, the author of the piece, […]
New Years Wish: Let Kids Wander
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=grove+avenue+richmond+virginia&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&safe=on&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Grove+Ave,+Richmond,+Virginia&t=p&vpsrc=6&ll=37.578596,-77.513008&spn=0.065301,0.109863&z=13&output=embed&w=640&h=480] When there was time in the summer, and there was always time, I would ride my slick rear tired red Schwinn dirt bike down Malvern, across Cary Street and into Windsor Farms, and when I would get to the remnants of the Civil War trench works, I would gather as much speed as […]
Preparing Our Students to be Community Leaders: An Initial Brainstorming
If we want to prepare students to be community leaders with qualities such as humility, decisiveness, passion, vision, and empathy, what should schools do to place their work developing those skills in greater relief? If successful leaders need skills such as the ability to take an unpopular stand, mobilize support for a shared goal, and […]
Good Counsel: Ed Helm’s Visit To Westminster
Just before Thanksgiving, Ed Helms, the actor who plays Andy Bernard on The Office and a member of Westminster’s class of 1992, visited campus and spoke a la Inside the Actors Studio with students and faculty in the morning and alumni in the evening. I had the chance to speak with him very briefly—one of […]
Bringing Students and Families into the School
Last weekend we had an Admissions Open House at Westminster, and I noted how often current students remarked to prospective families that the presence of a student buddy was helpful in making their own transitions into the school. Most interestingly, several students remarked how important that person had continued to be years after the adjustment […]