Ms. Claire delivered the following Opening Remarks at ISW’s first 8th Grade Celebration. The event included a lovely luncheon, a slide show, and a very special speaker. Perhaps most touchingly, our 8th graders spoke about one another. The love and care that has developed within this group is extraordinary. ISW is exceptionally lucky to have this group as our pioneers.
Welcome to our luncheon marking our first class of Middle Schoolers completing the 8th grade. Welcome, teachers—who have worked so hard to prepare our 8th graders for high school and for life! Welcome, 6th and 7th graders—in whose honor this event will be in just a year or two. Welcome to our rising 6th graders—who begin Middle School in the Fall. And welcome especially to Mavis, Ming, Nula, Emery, and Yona and their parents, without whom none of this would be possible.
Many thanks to Tom and Faith, who have prepared a wonderful luncheon for us! Ms. Brigitte and I are the self-appointed planning committee for this event, and we chose “The Road” as our theme. Corny? Yes, absolutely. What else would you expect when Ms. Brigitte and Ms. Claire get together? But it’s also true that there’s no escaping corny when you come to these transition points in life. Endings and beginnings of all sorts—it’s all corny. The trick is to embrace it!
The Road theme reminds me of what was probably this class’ favorite in-school production, Conflict Resolution in Oz, AKA the Wizard of Oz. How appropriate for Middle School. You entered Middle School as 6th graders at the start of the yellow brick road. Some of you looked and perhaps felt like a tornado just dropped you down in a whole new world. The next three years would see the fastest period of physical growth and change since before you were born. Like the three traveling companions Dorothy encounters in Oz, pretty much everyone entering Middle School is on a quest—for a brain, or a heart, or courage, or all three. It’s not always the same quest on any given day, but those are excellent goals. Intellect, love and courage will take you very, very far in this world.
You have probably figured out by now that there’s no wizard waiting to make you into something you aren’t. It’s up to you to decide what kind of person you will be. And hopefully, now that Ms. Diane, Ms. Brigitte, Ms. Christy, Ms. Becky, Mr. Jay, Mr. Bob, Mr. Todd, and Ms. Kerry are almost done with you as Middle Schoolers, you also know that developing your brain, your heart, and courage is very hard work. Congratulations, 8th graders. When I think back over the past three years, I see a great deal of hard work and struggle and triumph, and I see emerging adults whose brains, hearts and courage are truly remarkable. We are so proud of you!
As you leave Middle School, each of you will have to find your own way on the yellow brick road. And if the road doesn’t head in the direction you think it should, at least one lesson to take from ISW’s Middle School is that you can and should build a new one. We didn’t spend all that time on Destination Imagination for nothing. There may be days when you say to yourself, as the Wicked Witch of the West does, “Oh, what a world, what a world.” However, whether you are defying gravity or just dodging flying monkeys, whether you are staying here in Oz or getting in a balloon and sailing away, know that you always have a home in ISW. And, as we know, there’s no place like home.
May 30, 2014