News

Letter from Steve Piltch - March 2019

March 26, 2019

Dear Shipley Families and Friends,

While February feels like the longest month of the school year in so many regards, March seems to be by far the most variable month of the year. With perpetual changes in the weather, the dichotomy between the cold, windy days and the warm, calm ones serve as a microcosm for what’s going on in the world and in our kids’ lives.

The recent admissions scandal in the United States has created a great deal of emotion and angst about the realities of the college process. Though most people acknowledge that those who bought (or were trying to buy) their children’s ways into colleges and universities were wrong, many are not surprised that there were parents breaking the law. Sadly, when money, power, and a specific goal are in play, people may do whatever they can to achieve their goal (particularly if they think they will not be caught). Appropriately, people are now asking, what is the limit in helping your child “be successful.” And do the alleged benefits of unethical, illegal, or duplicitous actions—whatever they are—really outweigh the possible costs?

Though it might appear that these parents were attempting to support their children, they really were undermining them – forgetting that the college process is intended to be owned by the children, not by the adults. When we take control of our children’s lives and try to guarantee a particular outcome, we derail the process that allows them to grow and become the people they need to be.

At Shipley, we have long believed that your children, our students, should go to the schools that are best for them. As they develop their college lists and go through the application process, we need to remember that they are the ones who are going to go to college. Where they apply and attend should be a function of their work and their interests, not necessarily our idea of where we would like them to attend. Although we know that sometimes students will experience disappointments, it is our job, as parents and members of the Shipley community, to support them, help them take a step back, and reinforce their growth.

As with most everything we do, the process frequently matters more than the result, and this is the time of year when we see the results in so many areas that show the ongoing growth of our kids. Just this month, I witnessed four different events that had me in awe of our kids and of their growth and their performance.

The first was the fifth-grade Think Care Act Fair, where all of our fifth graders presented the service learning endeavor that they had pursued. As they talked about their different projects, their confidence, passion, and knowledge were clear for everyone to see and hear. As one parent said to me, “I can’t believe how much the kids have learned and how committed they are to their project.” Interestingly, the passion that they had for their projects was nicely balanced by the compassion that they had for those with whom they were working. The focus of the projects was wide-ranging and interesting and included among others: animal neglect, hunger, ALS, literacy, gun violence, skin cancer, anti-bullying, animal abuse, and healthy eating.

In similar fashion, I was—as I am every year—amazed by our third graders as they presented their Bagels ‘n Bios, where each student selects a given historical figure to dress as and depict. They represented a cross-section of people. Each and every one of the students did a wonderful job depicting the historical figure of choice as they explained the impact the historical figure had on them and/or selected a quotation from the figure that impacted their experience. Here are six of the historic figures chosen, and what our student said about him/her:

“After reading about Nelson Mandela I think it’s great that he stood up for his people no matter how much the government tried to make him feel powerless. He even went to jail just so millions of people wouldn’t be discriminated against.”

“I admire Jane Goodall for keeping her dream of working with animals, and it all started with a toy stuffed monkey named Jubilee.”

“I was inspired by Wilma Rudolph’s determination. Even though she dropped the baton in a relay race, she pushed herself harder than she ever had and she won the race!” 

“One part that really got me thinking was when Albert Einstein would lay on the grass and be curious about many things. Some of the things he wondered made me feel curious and some didn’t.”

“I liked how Sonia Sotomayor kept setting her hopes higher and higher.”

“I was inspired about how all his life Ronald Reagan had faith in the government, but when his faith started to fade away, his trust started to fade away, and he actually did something about it. And he did what he believed was right.”

The parents, as nervous as they were, were awed by their children’s performance. One parent put it this way, “I can’t believe how well my daughter did. She’s quiet by nature. She really got into this project and presented so confidently and happily. It made her a different person.”

These two events—Think Care Act and Bagels ‘n Bios—were nicely complemented by the Philadelphia Flower Show, where our Sprouts competed against the best gardeners in Greater Philadelphia and won more than their share of ribbons. This is the place where our students’ work and the plants speak for them. And though none of them bragged about their work, they took great pride in it. In fact, the ability to push bulbs so that they bloom at an appropriate time is a wonderful metaphor for everything that happens in life. And, if things don’t work out exactly as you’re hoping, you live with and learn from the results. (In the March issue of the student newspaper, The Beacon, “Sprouts Recognized at Flower Show” by Lucy Ulrich tells the Sprouts’ story really well.)

Living with and learning from the results is fundamental to everything we do. Certainly, the five performances of Little Shop of Horrors left us all impressed with the casts’ ability to make a difficult story come to life in an impactful way. There were two different casts, and each of them did a terrific job. I was incredibly awed by everything—from choreography to acting to directing; it was a wonderful show to celebrate our 125th anniversary.

The Upper School’s performance of Little Shop makes me even more excited about our first-ever Lower School musical, Peter Pan, that will take place on April 26 and 27 and our Middle School musical, Mary Poppins, May 17, 18, and 19. I hope you are able to get to both of them! All of the shows will be in Riely Theatre. (Please see the calendar for curtain times.)

Whether we’re talking about the admissions process or any of the student events I’ve mentioned, it is important to provide our students with the direction and reinforcement to strive to fulfill their goals. We want them to dream large and to believe in themselves. Walt Disney put it this way (as noted by one of our third graders): “If you dream it, you can do it.”

At Williams College (my alma mater), on Hopkins Gate, which is dedicated to Mark and Albert Hopkins, both of whom made huge contributions to the College, is inscribed a wonderful motto: Climb high, climb far. Your goal the sky, your aim the star. That’s what we want for our kids. If we continue to work at it together, we’ll help them achieve their goals and help ourselves avoid the pitfall of having it be about ourselves. I hope you and your family enjoy spring break. When we return, April and May will fly by very quickly. Make sure you fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.

Warmest regards,

Steve Piltch
Head of School

Back

News

The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.