Dear Lower School Parents,
Hot on the heels of Halloween, I asked the girls during Gathering to name their superpower. The range of reactions among the girls to this abstract question reminded me why I love my job so much--a few girls raised their hands immediately with great excitement, very eager to finally have an opportunity to share their superpower with the world, while the vast majority of girls looked at me with that mixture of confusion, intrigue, and annoyance, a look that children can do so well.
The confusion among the girls was also another reminder to me of the difference between boys and girls. Boys typically have no trouble sharing what their real and/or hypothetical superpowers are. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld observes that men (and boys) essentially think of themselves as low level super heroes -- picture the man driving down the highway with a mattress on the roof of his car and his arm out his window “holding” it in place. For the most part, the girls understood superpower to be another word for talent. So we heard a lot about horse riding, soccer, playing the piano, and climbing. I tried to make a connection between one girl’s identification of flexibility as her superpower and an ability to be flexible in challenging situations, but the girl was pretty sure she just meant that she is really good at stretching.
What I had in mind, and what I look forward to exploring with the girls over the course of the year, is to think of character traits as superpowers. In this way, kindness, patience, creativity, imagination, resilience, intellectual curiosity, faith, and a willingness to forgive can be seen as real world superpowers that can sustain us and help us navigate challenging situations. Even the very fact of being a girl is something akin to a superpower. I see this every day in my work at this all-girls school; there is a tremendous strength of community at Holton that I attribute in large part to our being an all-girls school. We can see this in the classroom as girls collaborate in their learning and support one another to take risks, in the Spirit and Halloween parades as the girls are free to be themselves, and we will see it again in a few weeks as we come together in our Thanksgiving Assembly. This sense of community can be seen in our partnerships with Upper School students too, as they lead and mentor Lower School students through programs such as Lower School Scroll and, coming up, the Upper School Mentoring Program during Homework Zone.
Holton Admissions Open House is this Sunday, and I plan use the superpower metaphor as I help families get to know our school better. For me, Holton has much to offer: academic vigor, arts, athletics, amazing facilities, but our superpower is the strength of our community. It is hard to overstate the extent to which a strong community can be the foundation for lasting and sustained growth.
Patrick Bane Lower School Director