In the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t been around for all that long. But in an era of passing fads and flash-in-the-pan movements, Shipley’s 24-year-old Oaks and Acorns tradition stands tall, holding a firm place in the hearts of a generation of students, colleagues, parents, and alumni.

Each fall, Shipley’s Mighty Oaks (our seniors and most venerable students) welcome the Little Acorns (in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and first grade) to the School by presenting them with decorated pencil boxes at the first All School Assembly of the year. In turn, those same Little Acorns present their Mighty Oaks with crayon-covered “diplomas” at year’s end.

It’s a touching rite of passage that symbolizes growth and potential (both realized and untapped) and reminds us of the path that we are all traveling. For parents and teachers of the Little Acorns, the Mighty Oaks herald a future that is rife with possibility. Likewise, for the parents and teachers of seniors, our youngest students are living reminders of a past that sometimes seems like it was not so long ago.

For our students, the path from Acorn to Oak represents a lifetime, and the pencil box and its contents embody the many gifts of a Shipley education. As a community, we celebrate as those gifts are passed from confident, experienced hands to eager, innocent ones. We celebrate again as those gifts are tied up with string and passed like talismans for our Mighty Oaks to take with them into the world.

This content was originally published in the Fall 2015 Shipley Magazine. Read more from this issue at http://blogs.shipleyschool.org/category/shipleymagazine/fall-2015/.