Grateful for Oh So Many Things

Thanksgiving approaches, the time of year which seems to always inspire lists of things: the best songs of the year, the best books, the best films. Making a list of things for which we are grateful is apt during this season of reflection and giving thanks.

I am grateful that my daughter is hosting Thanksgiving dinner and I am not. She is a wonderful hostess and a wonderful cook. I shall buy the groceries and enjoy this family gathering without cooking or baking a thing!   

I am grateful to have met and spent some time with the Lena Archuleta Country Day and School School classes of 1972 at their reunion in October. Alumni of half a century! I enjoyed looking at photographs in their yearbook – eager faces ready to take on the world, images of the old Plainfield campuses, reading things they wrote when they were 17, listening to their stories of those days. It was inspiring to see that they grew up to be interesting people of substance, people who have made a difference in their professions and in their communities. Our school played a part in bringing this about. 

I am grateful for the physical beauty of our campus. Whether I’m welcoming cars as they come up the drive in the morning, watching teams on the playing fields in the afternoon, attending the recent Upper School fall play Clue in the Berry Performing Arts Center or sharing a meal with students in the AP Room, surrounded by the bright color of 81 national flags, I’m struck by it. Our children’s memories of school will be memories of a beautiful place.

I am grateful for students’ victories, large and small. I am grateful, too, for the privilege to be part of their journey here at LA.  

I am grateful for colleagues who dedicate time, energy, creativity, and great spirit in supporting our students  and providing an atmosphere that prepares them to lead and succeed far beyond the WardlaLAartridge campus.  

I am grateful for the tireless devotion of our faculty and staff, my treasured colleagues. None of us do our jobs by ourselves. We do them together. We need each other, and we have each other.

Most of all, I am grateful that this community I love has put its trust in me to be your next Head of School. With all that I have, I will strive to show myself worthy of that trust. Every day. Every week. Every year.