Over the past several weeks, Davidson Day School has celebrated student achievement during our first trimester with assemblies to recognize excellence in academics and athletics. We also celebrated Students of Character – students who have made our School better by helping others, leading by example and inspiring us with their integrity. At our Upper School Honors Assembly, Marketing Creative Director and Photography Teacher, Paul Cotter, was asked to deliver a keynote address. His words were so inspiring to our students and the adults in our community, I wanted to dedicate my blog to sharing his insights with all of you.
Real Heroes Don’t Always Make the Magazine Covers
By Paul Cotter Keynote Speech Upper School Honors Assembly Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010
In 1997, two prominent women died within a week of each other. One was Mother Teresa of Calcutta; the other was Princess Diana of Wales. One was a woman who devoted her life to caring for the sick, the poor and the hungry. The other was a woman who did charity work, but was adored primarily as a member of royalty – someone who enjoyed a jet set lifestyle and attracted the attention of paparazzi worldwide.
When they died, who do you think was placed in the media spotlight? Was it the woman who chose to live in poverty and who won the Nobel Peace Prize? Or the woman who was dating the playboy son of a rich tycoon at the time of her death? Not surprisingly, Mother Teresa’s story was buried in the inside pages, while stories about Princess Di were splashed across our newspapers and television screens for weeks and months after her death.
I believe this says a lot about us: our culture … our values … the kind of people we admire and place on pedestals.
Think about the men and women we call our “heroes” today. What faces appear on the posters and magazine covers? In most cases, they’re celebrities – movie stars, singers, athletes. These are people with extraordinary talent. And in some cases, they’re also extraordinary human beings leading exemplary lives. But in many cases, they lead lives that are in direct conflict with the values we supposedly hold dear, and they’re not the kind of people we aspire to be. In fact, they’re just the opposite.
I’m guilty of this myself. If you walk into my classroom, you’ll see posters of Miles Davis and John Lennon, two of my “heroes”. These men were creative geniuses. But they were also heroin users and they could be ruthless to the people around them. So why don’t I have a poster of Mother Teresa on my wall instead? Good question.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves: What is it that we really admire in a person? What qualities do we look for in a friend? My guess is that it’s not the best singing voice or the prettiest face or the fastest time in the 40-yard dash. The qualities that come to mind are honesty … loyalty … respect … integrity … kindness … unselfishness. These are the qualities we look for in a friend. These are the qualities we really admire.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to honor these qualities and put these people on a pedestal?
I’m happy to say, that’s why we’re here today. At this special Honors Assembly, we’re here to honor Davidson Day School students who have achieved academic success and have shown exceptional character.
For the Students of Character award, the teachers were asked to nominate students in each grade 5 through 12. In Upper School, the teachers received the following request from our division head, Michael Smith:
“Would you please give some careful thought to a student with whom you have had some personal observation of his or her character? Remember that this can take on an array of definitions: from a student who selflessly gives his or her time to assist another student, someone you observe picking up trash unsolicited, someone who thanks you at the end of every class, etc.”
You’ll note that these acts of character did not have to be large, grand-scale acts. They could be little things. As Mother Teresa said, “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
We gave careful consideration to the request put before us. We nominated students who we felt demonstrated exemplary character in the classroom or in their outside activities. We then voted and chose one student from each grade. Now we’re gathered here to celebrate their character, along with those students who’ve distinguished themselves academically.
Before we meet the honorees, it’s worthwhile to ask: Why is Davidson Day School placing these students on a pedestal? Why are we having this special assembly today? Remember the Honor Code that we signed at the start of the year. Every student, every teacher, every staff member – all of us – we all signed a code pledging:
“As a member of the Davidson Day School community, I pledge to selflessly value the needs of others and act for the good of all. I will treat others with the highest level of respect. I will not cheat, lie, steal, plagiarize or engage in activities that can hurt myself or others …”
By being here today, we’re proving that this pledge means something, that it’s not just empty words.
I’d like to leave you with a story and a quote.
When I played high school football, our varsity coach gave us a pep talk before a big game against our archrivals. He told us that when he played in high school, he was a linebacker squaring off against the star running back on the other team. On the first three plays, the other team’s running back dashed off runs for big gains. “On the next play,” our coach told us, “I’ll be darned if that kid’s fingers didn’t find their way under my cleats and he left the game with a broken hand.” The lesson, he told us, is that there’s always a way to win if you want it badly enough.
I was disgusted. I lost all respect for my coach that day. And I’m proud to say, that coach would never be allowed through the doors at Davidson Day School.
The other day, one of my colleagues told me he’d read an interesting statistic. When surveyed, the majority of people – I believe it was 53% -- said that an action is NOT wrong if you can get away with it. Lying, cheating, stealing … they’re okay as long as you don’t get caught. That’s what 53% of the people believe.
I’m proud to say: 53% of the people don’t belong at Davidson Day.
Here’s the bottom line. The world can be a bad place, a tough place, an unfair place. But it can also be a better place. And we can make it that way through our actions, even the smallest demonstrations of character. When Mother Teresa received her Nobel Peace Prize, someone asked her, “What can I do to promote world peace?” She answered simply, “Go home and love your family.’
I’ll leave you now with one of the most inspirational things I’ve ever read. It was written by Anne Frank on July 15, 1944, shortly before she was captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp where she would die – freezing, sick and starving. She’d been in hiding for two years and was well aware of the atrocities around her. And yet she wrote:
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
I believe, too, that people are really good at heart – especially the students of character being honored today. They make me proud to be part of Davidson Day School.
Davidson Day School – A world-class educational institution.
Sounds like hype or an inspirational goal. But not so.
At Davidson Day, our sights are set on attaining a standard of excellence of the highest order that places our school and our students in the highest class in the world.
We are not content to be a “great school” or one that is “better than” the schools in our community, down the road or across town. Our vision puts us on a path of excellence that touches every classroom, every playing field, and every service project, art program and relationship we forge. We want every child who graduates from our school to be holding a diploma that is the gold standard in high school education.
We certainly are proud of our achievements thus far. But the initiatives currently in development and in various stages of implementation are even more amazing. These are not long-range plans. These are critical initiatives that we currently are pursuing at a brisk pace because children in our community need this unique kind of educational experience now, not in 5 or 10 years.
So how do we define a world-class education?
HAVING A WORLD-CLASS FACULTY and STAFF. We seek out men and women whose value goes beyond their academic credentials and resumes and demands creativity, mentorship, student-centered perspective, and world experiences that are woven into student relationships every day. We don’t single out our star teachers for honor and praise. EVERY TEACHER, COACH and ADMINISTRATOR needs to be a superstar to earn their place at our school each and every year. We want kids to come to our school because they want to be taught by our teachers and play for our coaches. We want our school to be known for having the best.
CREATING NEW KNOWLEDGE and subsequently NEW PROGRAMS and NEW DELIVERY METHODS. We don’t just adopt curriculum or educational practice because it has been heralded as the new best thing. We have academicians, child psychologists and child development specialists who continually research methods and outcomes from studies undertaken all over the world. This ensures that what we are teaching and how we are teaching it at Davidson Day ignites a passion for learning in our students, is rigorous, child-appropriate, supportive, relevant, and second to none.
We have unique programs like our Student Growth Portfolios, EXL projects, Mini-courses, leadership training, and liberal arts college-type course selection already underway. Upcoming new initiatives are being pursued under the umbrella of our Davidson Day Institute for Educational Excellence and its Center for Academic Research. As we begin to build relationships with regional, national and international education, higher education, and business partners we will play a leading role in educational research focused on raising the bar on student achievement by gaining better understanding of the correlation between child development and real learning.
BUILDING GLOBAL CONNECTIONS. Beyond a cultural trip or service mission to another country, and beyond foreign exchange students and programs, Davidson Day is making real global connections that are meaningful, life-changing, and long-term. We currently are in the planning phase of building a Field School and Research Center in the heart of Belize on an unexcavated Mayan Ruin site. This unique initiative exemplifies the meaningful and real-world aims of our Global Studies curriculum. Once this facility is completed in 2011, our students will have a hand in uncovering the secrets of Maya history by working the excavation site. They will be able to learn first hand about the social and political factors of a third world culture and its trading partners. They will forge bonds with children from Belize and more than 13 other countries from around the world. And each student’s experience can be designed to fit their own personal goals lasting from one week or one month, to a summer, or even a semester.
BUILDING A WORLD-CLASS FACILITY. Our tremendous growth has seen us more than double in size over the past three years. Over the next three years, we will double in size again to our full enrollment target of between 1000 – 1200 students in grades pre-k through 12. As we plan for this growth, our campus master plan will incorporate the best elements of “green” construction and student-centered educational amenities that ensure we have world-class facilities to support our world-class program.
DELIVERING A WORLD-CLASS EXPERIENCE TO EACH CHILD. It’s what our world-class goal is all about. Take all of the initiatives above and add diversity of experiences, thought, and people. Add leadership preparation that includes developing vision, creativity, dedication, fairness, and humor. Focus on preparing students for success and leadership in life not just preparation for college. And create an educational environment that values joyful learning, no matter how rigorous, and inspires in each student an insatiable quest for knowledge that is a life-long journey. That is the Davidson Day School experience.
I don’t remember running into school each morning because I couldn’t wait to get to class. Our kids do.
I don’t know of many schools at which kids are still hanging out at 6 or 7:00 in the evening because being on campus in the company of their friends, teachers and coaches is where they’d rather be. Our school is.
Here at Davidson Day, we have taken the education community and the general community by surprise. Those who don’t know us and all the amazing things we are delivering to our students can’t quite understand why we have grown so quickly when most other independent schools have had declining enrollment. Those who have visited our school, gotten to know our faculty and coaches, and experienced our positive energy know the answer. Families and children of all ages want to be part of the Davidson Day experience.
“What drives kids to our school is that amazing combination we have—the terrific athletic programs and the sense of school spirit all in the context of one of the best academic environments [around].”
I’d love to have said that about our school, but I didn’t. This quote came from the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions for Duke University (sorry, Tar Heel fans) acknowledging that “the exposure generated from successful, high-revenue athletic programs positively affects the outlooks of prospective students toward their schools.” 1
Consider that in 2008, Stephen Curry and Davidson College’s Elite Eight appearance caused the school’s admissions office to process an increased number of applications and acceptances. App State’s win over Michigan in 2007 gave that school its biggest bump in admission applications in school history. And George Mason University has increased its enrollment by over 9% since their Final Four appearance in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 2006, including a 20% application increase immediately following that successful season. A Virginia Tech research study concluded that a Final Four appearance increases applications by 7 – 8%.2
Did these schools suddenly become better schools to warrant the increase in applications? The reality is that the increased publicity and school cache resulting from their successful athletics performances made more kids want to go to that school.
Here at Davidson Day, we are experiencing a similar phenomenon. We’ve received more publicity and media attention about our school because of our athletics program. Our unexpectedly successful basketball season has inspired families who have never heard of us or considered us before to check us out. With the announcement of our football program along with the hiring of top-quality coaches in soccer, girls basketball, volleyball, as well as football, we are experiencing a surge of interest in our school from a wide variety of families from throughout the region.
Does that mean we are doing anything more in other areas of the school – like arts and academics? In this case, yes.
We have hired a renowned archaeologist to teach Middle and Upper School History who will also spearhead our school’s development of a research center in Belize – a unique program we are developing that will enable our students to work on excavating one of the largest Mayan ruins in Central America. We have hired a math specialist, who is completing his PhD , to re-design our math curriculum from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 while teaching our Middle and Upper School students.
We are investing a quarter of a million dollars in our Theatre to support the growth of our performing arts programs and we are investing a similar amount in technology to bring Smart boards and other innovations into the classrooms. Furthermore, we are weaving global initiatives throughout our curriculum and developing unique study abroad opportunities to better prepare students for success in the world they will live and work in.
All of these wonderful, exciting, and educationally transformative initiatives are being funded by our school to provide our students with unparalleled educational experiences. But quite frankly, I will bet that you won’t be reading all that much about these amazing initiatives in the media, or hearing kids and parents talking all that much about them during their social gatherings or play dates. I bet what you will hear about is football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer and a variety of our other sports. Kids and parents will engage in passionate debate over athletics. The media will add its voice to the mix. The wonderful non-athletics initiatives will take a publicity and public relations back seat.
Am I complaining? Not in the least. It’s the reality of our American culture. It’s just the way it is.
I love athletics. I know what athletics means to kids and families and to the social well-being of a school. In the words of a blogger who attends App State and who posted this excerpt back in January: “there is one girl on my hall who had never heard about App State until they beat Michigan. For the record, she hates football … but here’s at least one person who has come to Appalachian that wouldn’t have without the Michigan game.”
Funny how you get to think some deep thoughts when you’re stranded on the side of a mountain in a snowstorm waiting for a tow truck for five hours.
I’ll spare the details, but when that tow truck finally came and we were back on the road, my husband and I had the option of pulling off at the next exit to stay the weekend in a nice hotel chain. Or we could risk the next 15 miles of unknown icy road conditions to achieve our destination at the one-of-its-kind inn we reserved.
My husband and I quickly decided to keep going. That got me thinking. Why would we risk going on when there was a perfectly fine, upscale hotel chain at hand that would provide the safety, security, and accommodations we needed? Why did we feel so strongly about pushing on? The answer was simple. We didn’t want good or even great. We wanted memorable and exceptional. That got me thinking about schools. (It appears that even on a weekend get-away, a headmaster can never really stop thinking about school.)
Which brings me to the theme of this blog: I believe schools are like hotels.
Over the past few weeks, I have been meeting one-on-one with each of our new parents to talk about how their family’s and their child’s transition to our school has gone.
Overwhelmingly, the new parents I met with are thrilled with Davidson Day and expressed how happy their children are. Whether they have come from a public or private school, each parent has had an inspiring story to tell about how their child is working harder than ever, is challenged in ways they never before experienced, and is loving every minute of it. They have singled out caring teachers, approachable administrators, and new school friends who support them. They talk about opportunities their child has had to try new things that have become a previously unknown passion. And they are grateful to us because their children are happy and excited to come to school each day.
