Page 3 - Priorities #15 2001-July

From the Headmaster
Some of our middle school teachers are reading a book that includes this comment from an eighth grader:
“I feel like a cow. They herd us in the
building in the morning...then they make
up get into our stalls...then they make us
get into line and serve us all the same
food. Then they give us fifteen minutes
of pasture time after lunch; then herd us back into the classroom.”
This captures everything a Benedictine education tries not to be. Education is synonymous with individuality for us. It’s all about supporting individualself-discovery,notherdmentality. Itstrives for growth in integrity, spirituality, and sense of community as well as academic abilities.
We can’t predict what experience will turn a student on. But we can predict the situations that allow a moment of self-discovery to occur. Usually, it happens when a teacher and student know each other well and talk a lot, or when a student has an exceptionally meaningful experience working on a project. These require faculty willing to take time and an academic administrative staff willing to constantly createnewopportunities. IwanttothankPriory’s faculty and administrative staff for doing those things. They do it so naturally that I sometimes think they don’t know how good they are.
Let me cite some examples from this year’s graduating class that illustrate what I mean:
• We have two students who finished BC Calculus in their sophomore year. We arranged distance learning from Stanford so that they could pursue the advanced math most interesting to them. Now, with more students also wanting a post-calculus curriculum, we will be offering linear algebra at Priory in the fall.
• Two very successful students say their best learning experiences were in drama, where they could investigate human interactions and their own motivations. This maturity will serve them well in using their academic talents.
• One of our best basketball players ever said he chose Priory for the academics, not the sport. But the opportunity to play, and play, and play, with dedicated coaching, was a gift that allowed both his sports abilities and his leadership talents to develop.
• This year, only one student was qualified for and desired to take AP French Literature. Her teacher told her to go for it and made
time to coach her one-on-one, flex-time. This student achieved her goal despite a very busy schedule.
Our video editing lab exists largely because two students (now graduates) had a towering passion to learn that medium and a teacher was willing to give it a try. Music theory is there because another three or four students really wanted to understand structure and try composition. An administrator who had the knowledge saidhewouldmaketimetoprovidetheclass. It’sthe same story with computer science (we expect a full class in AP CS next year).
Are the students’ lives different as a result? I hope so. We can’t know, when we educate a child, exactly what facts or skills will be most important in twenty years. But we know the experience of success, of pursuing a passion, of understanding that they can go for what really inspires them, is transferable to any situation.
St. Benedict is our guide in this, in his Rule on Hospitality. Accept the guest as he or she is, non- judgmentally, and support that guest in his or her individual journey, Benedict said. In this spirit, the Priory never looks the same from year to year, but in another sense it never changes. I hope you will read Father Piers Lahey’s comments in Benedictine Letter. They speak eloquently of the Priory commitment to teaching individuals, in its early years and now.
We will be exceptionally busy this summer. We are in the final stages of implementing our strategic plan to provide faculty support and facilities for the coming years. It’s a stretch, but Priory education is worth striving for.
Have a great summer!
Sincerely, 3 Tim Molok, Headmaster
Accept the guest as he or she is, non- judgmentally, and support that guest in his or her individual journey, Benedict said.