Originally posted on Aug 7, 2014 11:28:00 AM
Encouraging close relationships among students and teachers and cooperation between home and school, we foster a feeling of family.
— From The Country School Mission Statement
When you ask students at (or alumni of) The Country School what stands out in their minds about their Country School experience, you almost always get a response about community.
It’s the relationship between students and teachers.
My classmates became almost siblings to me.
This school and the people here made me who I am.
There are very few people who can say that their school became their home, but I believe alumni of TCS are among those few.
10 impressions of “Family” at The Country School
1: A former teacher and a Graduating 8th Grader
Jim Storms retired from The Country School several years ago, but last June, when he realized that the younger sister of two of his former students would be among those graduating, he made it a point to attend graduation in person. The two share a birthday, and ever since Anna joined her sisters at The Country School as a Kindergartner, she and the man some call "Stormy" marked the occasion together (at least until Mr. Storms retired).
Mr. Storms never actually served as Anna’s teacher because he retired before she reached the Middle School. Still, he wanted to be there for his "birthday twin" on this big occasion, and she was just as happy to see him. Welcome back, Mr. Storms! Congratulations, Anna!
2: The Power of Friendship
One day last winter, one of these PreK students was having a tough day. His buddy was there to help him out. No further explanation needed.
3: A Salute to the Graduates - A VIDEO
(Click here to play)
During the spring Celebration of the Arts concert, the Middle School chorus performed "Nothing More" by the Alternate Routes as a tribute to the graduating 8th Graders. The song and its lyrics reflect some of the major themes of our school's deep-seated and long-standing affective education program. The accompanying slideshow conveys some of the relationships that characterize our community. It's also a visual example of how we celebrate and value the contributions of each community member. To quote from "Nothing More":
We are Love. We are One. We are how we treat each other when the day is done. We are Peace. We are War. We are how we treat each other and Nothing More.
4: Spotting Familiar Faces in the Crowd
Last winter, Dayton and Emmy, twins in Kindergarten, made their stage debut, appearing in “Babes in Toyland.” The weekend the show opened, when they looked out into the audience, they spied some familiar faces. “It was Mrs. Chiaia and Ms. Hard!” Dayton exclaimed to his mother after the show. “Can you believe our teachers were here?”
Ms. Hard, their teacher when they were in PreSchool, said she wouldn’t have missed their stage debut for the world. “I know those two so well,” she said. “It was such a treat to see them on stage." Something tells us there will be more opportunities to watch these two perform - and no doubt, some of the biggest fans in the audience will be TCS teachers.
5: Putting Her Peers in the Spotlight
When she was in 7th Grade, Nina and two of her classmates decided they were surrounded by a pretty amazing group of peers, and they set out to showcase their many talents and accomplishments. The result was The Country School's Student of the Week.
Over the course of two years, Nina conducted interviews with and then wrote up profiles of a weekly Student of the Week. After her 50th or so profile was published, Nina agreed to be the one in the spotlight (click here to read the interview). Asked if she'd learned anything about the community through the Student of the Week endeavor, Nina said:
It's incredible how diverse a student population can be while still all holding the key values that TCS enforces. I found through each interview and article that while our Middle Schoolers are involved in a wide array of sports, arts, and courses, each and every one of them is similar in that they possess characteristics like cooperation, assertion, determination, and commitment that TCS implements in its students.
6: Remembering a Teacher - and a Lesson - Years After the Fact
Back in 3rd Grade, his teacher, Kathy McCurdy, had introduced him to the painting and its artists and she was delighted when the lesson stuck, so much so that she opted to memorialize it. As part of a school fundraiser, the community had been invited to purchase and inscribe a brick around the campus flagpole. At right, the brick Mrs. McCurdy purchased and the message she inscribed for the inscription.
Below, the former student in front of the painting. (He also emailed a copy to Mrs. McCurdy.)
7: Volunteering with Her Former Teacher on Summer Vacation
Like her classmates, this rising 8th Grader (the tall one - in the baseball cap) was on summer vacation, but she opted to spend her downtime at school anyway. This summer, she volunteered to help out at "Outdoor Adventure Camp,” part of Summer Fun and Learning at The Country School (click here for a blog about the camp).
Although an older student volunteering her time with younger students is a rare thing during summer vacation, it happens all the time during the school year. Every other week, older students and younger students come together as part of the Reading Buddies program, and there are constant opportunities for friendships and mentoring relationships to develop.
8: "Fortunate to Be a Part of This Community"
When one Country School family experienced a devastating house fire last winter, members of the community banded together to help them out, collecting clothes, books, and other items. One parent, a professional musician, joined some musician friends in a benefit concert to help the family recover. In a note of thanks, one of the parents wrote:
To the TCS Community,
Words cannot express how deeply appreciative we are of everything you have all done to support us through this difficult time. As soon as the community was aware of the situation, we were being handed bags of clothing, stuffed animals, food, and books for our children. You had our children over for play-dates, you packed their lunches, and you made sure they had spirit-wear for Fridays! You offered us your homes, you organized fundraisers, you helped us clean our rental home, and you listened as we retold the horrifying story of the house-fire that turned our lives upside-down. Thank you for taking care of us and for putting smiles on our children's faces when they needed it most. We feel fortunate to be a part of this TCS community - you have helped make this horrible event a bit easier on all of us.
9: "I burned my thumb and singed my hair because I like you so much."
During Teacher Appreciation Week, there was a lot of appreciation going around - from special meals to massages for faculty members. All of it was great - and greatly appreciated - but we share this particular photo because the note (and especially the P.S.) expresses that special student-teacher/family bond better than almost anything we've seen.
9: Serving Others
The Country School Mission Statement calls on students to "look beyond themselves, to work cooperatively with others, and to serve their communities and the larger world." They routinely do. Here is just one example.
10. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night….
These words are usually ascribed to the work of the U.S. Postal Service, but they could apply to Country School students and teachers just as well. After the most recent Field Day, held during a torrential rainstorm (and resulting in an unprecedented tie between Blue and Gold), the emails were flying back and forth between teachers, reflecting on how much fun it had been - and how typically Country School.
“Only at TCS would we hold our Field Day in the rain, complete with slippery balloons, messy mudslides, and dripping gold and blue painted children. Can you imagine what passers-by on Opening Hill were thinking as they drove past?” one teacher wrote.
To which another responded, “It was cold, it was ucky, it was wet. Oh, wait a minute, we hike in the rain ... we deal with 102 degree temperatures in Arches National Park, we crawl on our bellies like a reptile in the caves and rock crevices, we pull up canoes with our ankles submerged in mud up these vertically steep banks and then do fire lines hauling gear the distances of three football fields. Oh and yes, as we all know, the 4th Grade is not too early to sleep in the rain (yup, we know how to set up the tents in the right way) and to be pushed for a day and half. You know why? Because that is what we do … or more succinctly, that is who we are. And I am proud of that!”
“Hip hip hooray!!!!” another wrote. “It was a blast!”
Finally, this:
The emails bring up an important point about reliance and tenacity. When other schools have grown too fearful of aches and pains, shivering, blisters, bug bites, lawsuits, cold, wet nights (and cold, wet days) and the other maladies of old-fashioned daily living, The Country School leans into that, celebrates the outdoors, teaches students (and teachers) that we can be uncomfortable for short and long periods of time and end up better, stronger for it. …
Kudos to all of you for teaching the students that, often, the "show must go on" and we are all better as individuals for learning to be intrepid. You gave the students a memory of laughter and camaraderie that will last a lifetime.
Click here for more photos from the rainy, miraculous, Blue-Gold tie Field Day.
This is the first in a series of Community Blogs.
Do you have an example of Community in Action at The Country School? Email your idea story about the TCS Community to communications@thecountryschool.org. Thank you!
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