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Public Remarks from Head of School

Striving with Love

These remarks were shared at Upper School Chapel on November 8, 2024.

I want to share with you a glimpse of where I came from and the traditions of democracy that I witnessed in New Hampshire, where I lived for almost twenty years before coming to Portland. On election night, in a small New Hampshire town called Dixville Notch, the first votes in the country are cast right at midnight. It happens in a little town hall with a wood stove, where the six registered voters come in, one by one, to mark their ballots. Each vote is opened and read aloud by officials, while the votes are tallied on a whiteboard for all to see. A golden retriever with an American flag bandana, wanders through the room, monitoring the vote count. It’s a simple process that reminds us of something huge: every single vote, each voice, matters. In Dixville Notch that night, the six votes were split evenly—three for each candidate. To me, it felt like a reminder of how democracy works, multiplied millions of times across the country.

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Rich Toward God

These remarks were shared in a sermon at OES/St. John's Celebration on October 6, 2024.

My goodness. What is going on in that second reading from the Acts of the Apostles? It begins on a positive note, telling us that the Christian community in the early first century was “of one heart and soul…no one claimed private ownership of possessions, but everything was held in common.” Doesn’t that sound ideal? Everyone was getting along just fine. The Acts of the Apostles was written by the evangelist Luke, and he takes great pains to emphasize the complete unity of the community, encapsulated in the Greek word ‘homothumadon.’ Everything is homothumadon. A community where everyone gets along, sharing everything—no private property, no greed. Everyone agrees—of one mind, unity, harmony. It sounds like a dream come true.

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Focusing Forward

These remarks were shared at the Opening Belltower Ceremony on August 28, 2024.

Welcome back everyone and welcome especially to the newest members of this community. It is great to begin a new year. This past summer, I spent a good amount of time, watching the Olympics. I love the team competitions, the individual events, the sports I would not usually get to watch. The joy of the Olympics provides an opportunity to marvel at the incredible talents of athletes from around the globe and the power of teamwork. Simon Biles, Suni Lee, Katie Ledecky, Summer McIntosh, Noah Lyles, Sha’Carrie Richardson: just some of the many individual athletes who captured our attention. 

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Memory and the Fabric of Time

These remarks were shared at Chapel on Alumni Weekend on June 22, 2024.

On June 2, 1869, Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris, the second Bishop of Oregon, founded St. Helen’s Hall. His sister-in-law, Mary Rodney, was appointed the first principal. Her sisters, Louisa and Clementine, were some of the first employees of the school.  A couple weeks ago, we commemorated Founder’s Day by visiting the graves of Bishop Morris, Mary Rodney, and her sisters here in Portland. This was a new tradition and we intend to do this every year on Founder’s Day. We placed beautiful wreaths, made from flowers and greens gathered here at the school. It was very humbling to visit those graves and reflect back on what it must have been like to make the decision to found a boarding and day school for girls in 1869, only ten years after Oregon was admitted as the 33rd state. 

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Commencement for the Class of 2024

These remarks were shared at the Commencement for the Class of 2024 on June 14, 2024.

It is wonderful to finally be at this very special moment to join with parents, family, friends, teachers, to celebrate this class of 2024. The program says that I am to give a charge to the class; I interpret charge as a task, something not just to think about, but something to do.

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