Parent News & Events

To: The Blair Parents
From: Chan
Date: November 12, 2007

My philosophy on sending group electronic mailings to various groups–parents, trustees, faculty, students, and so forth – is this: not too often. It is no secret that E-mail is a terrific way to disseminate information efficiently and universally, but if one wants an e-mail read rather than lumped into the relentless waves of e-mail that daily wash in, then I find less is more. (And here’s an idea: I was struck recently by a Blair parent’s remark that she occasionally simply deletes all her daily e-mail unread on the theory that if it is that important the sender will find a way to reach her. Interesting theory, but if she deletes this e-mail, that’s it.) Further, because in any school year there might be a few occasions–and I hope very few – when I am compelled to get important, even urgent information out to you quickly, I prefer to hold the group parent e-mail in reserve so that the rarity of getting an e-mail from the headmaster underscores the importance of that news.

That said, I write today. And I do so to reflect upon the end of our fall season – and by that I do not mean just athletics, but the inevitable sense of closure and renewal that follows the Peddie Day events. Starting today we switch to our winter dining schedule, and thus we embark upon that disjointed educational experience known as the American holiday season during which – beginning on Saturday – we are out of school almost as often as we are here, a reality that extends from the beginning of the holidays right up until the end of winter. There is no answer to that reality, so we try to plan for and around it. And we are in good shape. I would emphasize that the Blair community has enjoyed a successful (if at times quite busy) autumn, and now we move into the new season with optimism and a happy anticipation of the season’s activities and pleasures.

Below are, I believe, a few listed notes of interest for you as Blair parents.

a. The faculty and I recently spent a full Sunday afternoon and a subsequent Monday evening reviewing every student’s mid-semester academic record with additional commentary on each boy or girl as a whole. The purpose of this process is many-fold, but not the least is educate new faculty on how we think, talk, and care about our students. While we are perhaps not unique in adhering to these traditional meetings – traditional, that is, since my tenure as headmaster – we are probably one of the largest of schools to do this. In 1989 when I came to Blair, the student body was about 320; now we are over 440 – and there are more faculty involved, too. Still, the trick is to sense when analysis is truly revealing and when talking about a successful student is merely gilding the lily. There are many, many lilies among our students, so in fact the meetings were efficient. Our goal, though, is always to know your children well and help them succeed at Blair.

b. There are two themes running through this “fall term,” a phrase which is a throwback to our trimester, rather than semester, days. The good theme I shall comment upon in a moment, but the more difficult theme is the one of student and faculty stress, or put another way, the relentless busyness of the Blair community. Almost every night of the week there was something this fall: an art opening, a Skeptics speaker, Friday Vespers, a concert, a night game under the lights, a play, a dance, Sunday Vespers, a dorm "conversation" on some adolescent issue. And for faculty, there is all that and the inevitable, a meeting of some sort. Trying to schedule some of this activity during the day is often impossible, and priorities always seem to conflict. At a school meeting recently I counted seven different pleas for students groups of some sort to meet somewhere on campus “right after the school meeting – it’s really, really important you guys!” Meanwhile I had decided to hold the entire Senior Class over school meeting for a brief chat about leadership during Peddie Week. Talk about being a skunk at a garden party. Still, we inherently know that this problem of busyness reveals the strength of our students. It is their willingness to do so much (and ask us to do it with them)–that extra class, that admissions tour during their one free block, that club, activity, extra assignment, extra help. And this fall, on their own initiative (particularly that of one young woman), the freshmen girls converted the attic of Locke Hall into a haunted house (I knew that attic was good for something) which was a terrific Halloween diversion for the entire school on a rainy Friday night. Sure academic and community stress is scary, but the Locke Haunted House put things into perspective (although it was another night of doing something).

c. The other theme running through the year is the surprising strength and good will in the senior class. Frankly, I have given up predicting whether any given senior class can or will rise to the necessary challenges of leadership during their year, but this year’s group of student leaders certainly has. And though we sensed that all fall, it was the responsible, creative approach to Peddie Week that confirmed their strength. Guided by faculty and Carolyn Conforti-Browse in particular, the senior class has the responsibility manage Peddie Week. The faculty and I are always ambivalent about the whole concept and have for years tried to contain, manage, guide, and curtail its impact and activities. As I have often told the community, no other school has anything like Peddie Week (certainly not Peddie), and there is a good reason: it’s crazy. Many of the faculty over the years have speculated that our generally underwhelming athletic success on Peddie Day is a result of too much attention by our students on the activities on our campus rather than preparation for the games. True or not, many of the activities are so ingrained in the hearts and minds of our seniors that changing the details (as we certainly have over the years) brings cries of “you are ruining our senior year! Life will never be the same.” In fact, “Peddie” is mostly about thrilling the lives and minds of our youngest and newest students, who spend the rest of their careers trying to recover the magic of their first Peddie Week. However, for the seniors Peddie is work, lots of details, creative ideas and designs, trying to be funny without offending, negotiating everything with each other and the administration, staying up later than they really want – and for four-year seniors, spending all night “guarding” the bonfire in bone-chilling weather. It may hardly seem worth it (and some years the student leaders say it was not), but underneath all that may be one of the real leadership programs at Blair. It is the seniors’ week to create something special, and the faculty represent the marketplace: if the product does not work, we do not buy it. This year – like much of the Class of 2008’s activities – “Peddie Week” was very good.

d. If the world of Upper Schoolers (juniors and seniors) is a very busy, purposeful if at times stressful world, the world of Lower Schoolers (freshmen and sophomores) is somewhat less so – fewer games, less travel, generally straightforward academic work, and more focus on the social adjustment of boarding school. In general, the lower school was a happy place to be this autumn, and we hope it remains balanced. However with two long breaks pretty much back-to-back, a few of our previously happy freshmen and sophomores suddenly find themselves put off balance by the re-immersion into home and friends, then back to Blair, then back to home, and so on. On top of that, the winter darkness in boarding school–particularly January – is not the sunny September days of their first arriving, so the faculty and I are watchful for latent homesickness, a feeling that surprises boys and girls who would have called themselves very happy just a few weeks earlier. Again, this is not likely, but if you think your son or daughter might have a bit of that issue over the next months, please communicate with us.

e. I am certainly aware that a few parents have been concerned about Blair’s attempt to respond to the national movement on the American diet, and serve “healthful” choices in the Dining Hall, cutting back or eliminating the sweet, fat, caloric, empty stuff many of us call “comfort food.” The loudest clamor has, predictably, come from the most veteran, senior students. Those new to Blair have been unbothered, perhaps unaware of what they are missing. The fact is that there are still plenty of less healthful choices, but not coming as regularly as in the past. Conversely, the new choices – the poor zucchini brownie is the poster child of the Blair unhappiness – have been met with some derision. Consequently, we are reviving the dormant Dining Hall committee which includes student representatives who will help us tweak the situation. Indeed, chocolate brownies are re-emerging! I am certainly aware that if students do not happily anticipate their daily dining breaks from the pressures of our life here, we lose something very important to our life at Blair.

f. In addition to the Fall Concert this Friday night, there are two traditional holiday events in December: our Christmas Vespers on Sunday, December 9th (two choices: an afternoon and an evening service downtown at The First Presbyterian Church) and the Holiday Concert on Friday December 7th @ 7:00 in Armstrong-Hipkins. We hope you can join us for one of these opportunities to enjoy the Blair music program and celebrate the season with us.

Finally, on behalf of the faculty and staff at Blair, I close with our wishes to all of you and your families for a very happy, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. And I hope you were edified by the comments in this e-mail and would encourage you to respond to any aspect of this message that moves you to do so – though, of course, I might decide to delete all e-mails unread to see what happens.

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