The responsibility of dreams

Reflections from the director

Annika Fjelstad

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At a recent school board retreat, we were asked to express, in one or two sentences, what we saw as the school’s mission. Most of us used as many commas and clauses as we could, cramming meaning-packed vocabulary into a limited word count. Continuously educated, spiritually grounded, environmentally sustainable, individually appropriate, bilingual, skills for self-sufficiency, resiliency — these were some of the terms used. As we each read our response to the room, every listener thought, “Why didn’t I think of that? I want that for our students, too.” More striking, however, than the diversity and variety of our statements, was their unity. All of us valued academic rigor, as well as nurturance of the whole person. All of us endorsed opportunities to access higher education in two languages, complemented by the larger commitment to help students lead productive ethical lives as contributing members of their communities. This balance of academics with social responsibility spoke to each of us.

And indeed, one needn’t look far to see the ways both of these values manifest themselves in the daily rhythms of our school. High school students study the Odyssey. Kinder students care for their rabbit. Middle schoolers learn percents. Eleventh-graders teach fourth-graders flag football. Students in grades five and six share their knowledge of anatomical terms with third- and fourth-graders studying the human body. And at 2:50 pm each day a whirlwind of activity erupts as brooms fly, garbage gets burned, and toilets scrubbed. Every student knows they’re part of the team effort to keep our learning home clean and tidy. A nurturing community, academic growth, and commitment to responsibility are wrapped up with each other every day at Monteverde Friends School.

Growth and commitment, of course, are not just day-to-day, but long-term, projects. One such project started this fall, when a group of students reported from their town meeting that they would like to put a roof on the volleyball court. A community member had an idea of where we might find some funding. We called a meeting to see what it would take. One parent sketched a plan on the back of an envelope. The cost seemed too high, though, and our committee never reconvened. Later, another parent told me she knew a school looking to fund a local project. Amazingly, the sketch still existed. Although it was really no more than a dream, we could call it a plan. The other school was excited, and had a particular commitment to volleyball. We created some promotional materials, and now we have a school in the United States fundraising for our volleyball court. While it’s true we don’t have the court yet, nor even the money to build one, we are on a path.

What I like about this story is that the initiative came from the students. They knew what they wanted and they were willing to send representatives to a meeting. We took their idea seriously, and that helped others to take it seriously too. It meant that when someone came looking for a project to fund, we had one.

This school is one that nurtures the leadership of its students. One sees it in the responsibility so many of them are willing to take. One sees it when projects that start as dreams come closer to reality because they are willing to stand behind them. It is an honor to serve in such an environment.