Telling Our Stories - "In Just One Day!"
Dear Friends,
In just one day. As this day started, I walked out of my office to greet a young family visiting our school. They were bringing their first grade daughter to spend the day. Looking at the sweet child holding her parents' hands I thought to myself that it could be hard to come spend the day at a new school. It couldn't always be easy to walk into a new and strange classroom. But, when I followed this young girl into the first grade room, our children greeted her as if she had been there all along and soon she was seated among a group of eager children. She had a good Seacrest day.
My next stop was a meeting of our Gala Team. This group of devoted parents has been working hard on the Gala for the last seven months. They give so freely of their time because they want to make certain that all of our children can return to Seacrest. They work so hard because they understand how critical it is to have the evening be a grand success. During the meeting we spoke about our children and how extraordinary they are. The team was thankful for our students' contributions to the Gala in the form of the charming Thank You cards as well as the wonderful Class Crafts that have begun to fill the school.
Across the courtyard in the Arts Center our undefeated Scholarbowl team was competing against the other highest-scoring team in the county. The moderator paused twice during the competition to let our Seacrest team know that they had answered questions previously unanswered by any team! It was a very close match. An outside observer probably would not know that our team hadn't won as they left the room eagerly talking strategy for their next match. I am always so proud of our students and the poise and grace they exhibit in competitions of every variety.
I saw many of the same students on the basketball court during the boys middle school basketball game at CSN. They played as hard for the division championship that afternoon as they had played in their Scholarbowl competition earlier in the day. How proud they were to hold up the big trophy at Flag Ceremony this morning!
Later that same evening, we went to the Collier County Laws of Life Banquet. This contest began last fall with over 4,300 entries from students in grades four through 12 across Collier County. Students write essays about character and values and from all of these entries 40 students-ten from each of the four divisions-are asked to present their essay in the form of a speech before a panel of judges. At the evening banquet the four winners in each division are honored and awarded prizes. I am very proud that in the Middle School Division, Lisa Dunleavy received second prize and Mattie Butehorn took first prize.
The real celebration is that this one day at Seacrest is truly "just one day". Every day at Seacrest is filled with learning and growing and joy. On this one day, I watched students water the flowers in Millie's Garden and listened to them tell me how happy they were to have Mrs. DelMauro back-even if for just a little while. Dr. Amico and I talked about the great Athens and Sparta Debates that were happening in the sixth grade. I waved goodbye to the high school chorus as they readied themselves for a performance off campus and I observed the high school boys gathering equipment for the middle school students' talent show that evening.
And, I know I will always smile as I remember high school junior Brunes Charles' visit to the nurse. Two third grade girls recognized this 6 foot tall boy and one said, "I know you." Now, I know what you are thinking, you are thinking these young students knew Brunes because he was recently honored for scoring 1,000 points in Stingray basketball. But, her recognition was softer, sweeter. "I know you," she said "you are the singer!" And as they sat there waiting for the nurse, Brunes and the two third graders sang together the theme song from Barney, "I love you, you love me, we're best friends like friends should be."
All in one day!
Thank you for your children. They make my heart sing!
Lynne
Head of School
Seacrest Country Day School
2009
