It is a pleasure to be with all of you this evening as we celebrate excellence in sports and the excellence of sports. I am especially grateful that alumni from many decades at OES (from the 1960s to the 2000s) have joined this gathering along with parents of alums, former faculty and staff, and current parents and students.
These remarks were shared at the first Upper School Chapel event of the school year.
When was the last time you put your hands on an elephant? That poem we just heard is by Rumi, a thirteenth century Muslim Sufi mystic. The poem, Elephant in the Dark, is an invitation to cooperation. The people in the dark make assumptions based on the part of the elephant they feel.
These remarks shared at the end of the Head of School Installation event.
Thank you so much, for these wonderful and thoughtful and fun gifts, and more so for the welcome that Amy and I have received over the past two months since we moved here to Portland. I want to thank everyone who carved out time this morning to be here. I know that it is a great effort to adjust schedules and I appreciate the witness of your presence.
These remarks were shared at the opening Belltower event on the first day of school.
I have worked in schools for 30 years, but this is my first year here. So, I feel a special connection with those who are new students, new employees, new families. Being new brings all sorts of mixed emotions –longing for the place you left, excitement and anxiety for the place where you are now, optimism and hope for the future.