Convocation is a moment for us to gather as a community at the start of the year, 欢迎我们的新同学, 教师, 和工作人员, and to reaffirm the values we stand for and strive to live by. 9月15日, 韦德娱乐app下载地址 welcomed more than 90 new students to our corner of Phillips Mill and School Lane.
This year, Russ Carrick was chosen to be the 教师 speaker. Mindful that the vast majority of his audience has not yet been at Solebury for a typical year, he shared some insights on how 韦德娱乐app下载地址 works, 我们的价值观是什么?, 以及我们对彼此的期望.
我刚来索伯里的时候, 14年前, I got used to hearing this common refrain around campus, “我们在索伯里并没有真正的小圈子.” To this, I would always politely nod while thinking, that sounds really nice but come on. 我一直在公立学校教书. 我了解青少年的行为. 我自己也经历过. It’s a law of nature, cliques are a teen’s natural state.
戴上怀疑论者的帽子, 我在这里开始了我的第一年, looking for and expecting what I was certain would be the telltale signs and dominance rituals of teens-in-the-wild. Students dressing in signature ways to convey their tribe, students clustering in certain spaces while excluding others, and—that staple of all teen movies—students making other students feel bad for looking, 代理, 或者是不同的.
但这是我思想中的根本缺陷. There is no “different” at Solebury, and it didn’t take me long to see this first-hand. Walking around campus, in the dorms, or in the dining hall I saw no tribal uniforms. 我看见大衣、领带和鼻环坐在那里, 穿着足球服坐着, 和一个打扮成海盗的女孩坐在一起. 我没有看到独占空间. 我在安静的休息室里看到了魔法——对所有人开放, 在摇篮边的篮球赛——对所有人开放, and Halloween fire pit sessions where people shared their real-life ghost stories—open to all.
我所到之处都是笑声. 食堂里的笑声, 在婴儿床前欢笑, 最重要的是, 教室里的笑声. 这条规则有例外吗? 当然，人类还是人类. 但就是这样. At Solebury, stereotypical teen behavior is the exception. Trying to act like a hotshot, or trying to be exclusive at Solebury, that is aberrant behavior. 不要相信我? 等待. 看看有人在集会上是怎么做的, 宣布他们的新俱乐部, who is clearly nervous—and believe me we are all nervous making announcements at assembly—watch how they are met with applause every time. Watch what happens at Coffee House when someone gets up in front of an audience and tries to sing in public for the first time. 他们杀不杀它并不重要. 他们会得到欢呼. 有时, 他们就越紧张, 这对他们来说就越困难, 欢呼声就会越响亮.
他们让我——短的, shiny-headed, oddly-animated old guy—do a monologue in a school play and sing with the Rock Band. If this could happen for me at Solebury, imagine what could happen for you.
So everyone who’s new here, when we’re done come meet me in the circle and ring the gong. 敲锣宣布你到了. Ring the gong to declare that you are one of us now. Ring the gong to declare that you are ready to make your mark, however you want to make that mark. 因为我向你保证一件事. 在这里，你会得到支持.
Click the im年龄 to view more photos from Convocation.