September 2012 Newsletter Celebrating Our History, Reflecting and Looking Ahead Welcome to the 125th year at Head-Royce School! What a profoundly humbling and inspiring moment for us all to consider. For one and a quarter centuries, Head-Royce School has been successfully dedicated to the important work of educating children, creating community and transforming lives. I would imagine that my night before the first day of school was like that of many of our students. I couldn’t sleep as I anxiously thought about the next day. After a fitful evening, I awoke to a sublimely perfect East Bay morning: sun infused fog, 55 degrees, and warm breezes coming up the hill from the Bay foretelling the warmth that would envelop us on the first day of school. That first morning, in what is now one of my favorite new school traditions, we welcomed our bustling, smiling, eager students on Lincoln Avenue with balloons and gifts as they were dropped off. In the midst of the high-fives, handshakes, and hugs my thoughts kept coming back to four sentiments: community, tradition, hope and promise. Fourth graders Jessica Furstein and Erin Epstein celebrate a new school year. I was struck by the fact that this opening day, our 125th opening day, was magical because of the diverse, engaged, intelligent and fun community of teachers and learners who have come together. edition of Nods and Becks, the school yearbook. I was impressed I knew that our founder, Anna Head, would be beaming with with the quality of their writing, the earnestness of their voice, and pride at how the school has evolved from her vision. Anna Head’s their ability to speak with timeless relevance to this generation of philosophy of education had several key tenets but the core Head-Royce students. I will share it with you here: of her philosophy centered around Allow me…Lords and Ladies academic excellence In this year, 1930, those of us who make our final and teaching to the bow from the stage of Anna Head, offer this small whole child. With our volume with its bits of rhyme, sheaf of prose, and talented faculty, the fragments of song, for the diversion of our fellows, breadth of our curricu- who tread the same boards as we do. To some who lum, engaged parents, read, it will seem like an idle playlet, while to those fabulous facilities, and who have passed through the halls of wisdom as our K-12 structure, we actors in the serious drama of learning, we hope, are indeed able to teach in future years, it will read as a beautiful romance to the whole child, thus and enlightening history. Be assured that we, fulfilling Anna Head’s the staff, have acted our part as best we might, early vision. for the sole purpose of serving the school, and Looking forward fostering the ties of mutual reciprocity and esteem. to this year, we have an —the EDITORS exciting series of events to commemo- I invite us all to see this year as an opportunity to reflect, rate our 125th anniver- take stock, and appreciate the community of Head-Royce. Our sary. The year has been community is broad and deep. It incorporates and has been shaped designed in its entirety by everyone who has come before and everyone who is here now. Head of School Rob Lake greets Farhan to celebrate communi- In my summer letter, I wrote about Janus, the ancient Roman God of Habib on the first day of school. ty in the most inclusive gates and doors, of beginnings and transitions. In this year, let’s look way. Our hope is to connect old friends, alums, past Trustees, back and forward. We have such a rich history. We have an exciting parents and faculty to the Head-Royce of 2012. Additionally, and of future. I am eager to enjoy both with you. equal importance, is our goal to teach today’s students about our school’s rich history and those who have come before them. To that end, on September 4th we conducted our first Convo- cation ceremony. Students, faculty and staff came together to reflect on tradition and the year ahead. In my remarks, I shared the Yours sincerely, brilliantly written introduction by the student editors of the 1930 Rob Summer in Ecuador By Kenny Ewbank, Middle School Faculty “Bienvenidos a Pucara, una comunidad solidaria.” Welcome to Pucara, a community of solidarity. So reads the sign along the road that now greets visitors to the rural community of about 170 people in the Intag Mountain region of Ecuador. Along with English teacher and traveling enthusiast Vylinh Nguyen, Berkeley carpenter and Ecuador project initiator Ruel Bernard, and myself, 14 HRS students from grades 7, 8 and 9 embarked upon an amazing service learning adventure in August. At the heart of our trip were six days spent working alongside local villagers in the daily “mingas” in Pucara. Minga is a Spanish translation of a Quechuan word that roughly translates to “community work.” In Pucara, each family in the village sends one representative to join the work party each day. Workers ranged in age from about 11 to 68 years old. During our time in Head-Royce students pose with some of their host friends in Ecuador the village, we worked on many different projects. We helped construct a concrete walkway to the community center; built shelves for the kitchen; stained wood doors and siding through- out the village; painted murals; constructed benches for the school and a billboard frame; and laid the foundation for a new recycling center. All of these community projects were funded by money raised by Head-Royce students prior to the trip, who had sold various fair trade goods from all over the world. The work was physically demanding, but our spirits were always high, thanks to the warmth and kindness of the people of Pucara. Our students certainly know what hard work looks like in the form of research papers and challenging assessments, but few of them have experienced the hard work of manual labor in the equatorial sun. Gathering 10,000 pounds of rocks from the river on our first day in town for our various projects had a few students wondering exactly what they had gotten themselves into. Though the work was physically demanding, our spirits were always high, thanks to the warmth and kindness of the people of Eighth grader Max Schmitz with his friend, Pucara. After all, it’s hard to complain when the 68-year-old Carlitos woman next to you mixing concrete never does. We did our best to use our varying levels of Spanish knowledge to make new friends as we worked, and the language barrier proved no hindrance to much shared laughter and smiles. After our mornings spent working, we relaxed in the after- noons by playing soccer or just horsing around with the local children. Truly, we felt very much a part of this community whose lives, as the students pointed out, couldn’t be more different than ours here in Oakland. The lack of TV, cell phones, Internet and hot showers were definitely noted, but was more than made up for by the friendships we made and the bonding experiences we shared. We had some great tourist adventures as well: swimming in natural hot springs, hiking in the crater of a volcano, shopping in the largest artisan market in the world, and visiting the historic center of Quito. However, what I know will endure long after the memories of these adventures is the feeling of solidarity we all have with this amazing community. We’ve learned that a simple roadside message holds much more meaning when you’ve helped Students help construct a concrete walkway for the community center to build the structure that holds it up. Coming Events Back-to-School Nights Upper School ~ Tuesday, September 18 Middle School ~ Wednesday, September 19 Lower School ~ Thursday, September 20 Dinner at 5:30 ˜° . Program begins at 6:30 ˜°. Our Town Comes to Town HEAD-ROYCE SCHOOL 125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION in November Thornton Wilder wrote about Our Town: “The play is an absorbed CALENDAR OF EVENTS gaze upon a New Hampshire village which I hope the audience The Head-Royce community is invited to help commemorate will feel gradually becoming the world. It deals with life, love, this important milestone with a year of festivities as we celebrate marriage, and death. A strange mixture it is altogether.” our 125th Anniversary. Details for all events coming soon. This classic American play was written 75 years ago and still speaks to audiences today. The Head-Royce Upper School drama department will stage this production in an entirely new way. Jim FALL 2012 • WINTER 2013 • SPRING 2013 Graham and the Technical Theatre class will make a black box theatre in the MEW. It will be a wonderful new adventure for us 125TH ANNIVERSARY SPEAKER SERIES all, and the audience will be a big part of the production. Three stimulating evenings with leading figures in education Our Town will be presented on November 2, 3, 9, and 10 in the and culture. The Anniversary Speaker Series is open to the MEW Auditorium on campus. Tickets will be available online. community and free of charge. Fall Choral Concert MARCH 18, 2013 Features Middle and WYNTON MARSALIS AND THE JAZZ AT Upper School Singers LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA Winner of nine Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, the Colla Voce, Upper School Chorus, Middle School Chorus, and matchless musical icon will perform at a private concert for the 6th Grade Chorus will perform on Wednesday, November 14 at Head-Royce community.