Back in the fall, one of Cynthia and my favorite activities after dinner was to slowly wander across campus and let the bedlam of middle school boys wash over us like a bath. Spike ball, pick-up soccer or lacrosse games, the outcry of violin lessons—these were the sounds of Cardigan at play.
While on the surface this “play” may seem something antithetical or distinct from the intellectually rigorous academic day and the kinesthetic drill of afternoon athletics, we see it as purely complementary. Intellectually and academically the middle school boy learns best through applied learning, by doing rather than observing. And our students “do” a lot every day—by the time a Cardigan boy brushes his teeth and turns out his light he has accomplished a great many things. Increasingly, our academic program is one that looks beyond the traditional classrooms and to the emerging learning venues imagined by technology and innovation. We are exceptionally proud of our association with the Charles C. Gates Invention & Innovation Competition and look forward to further developing this inventive and entrepreneurial muscle in our boys. The rich tradition of full participation in the fine and performing arts is a gift that Cardigan gives to each boy who wields a paint brush, pulls a bow across strings, acts on stage in Humann Theatre, or clears his throat to reach the high notes when singing in Chapel. We learn and grow in context, through experience rather than lecture.
This work and play, which sees lots of fits and starts along the way, and certainly as much failure as success, is accomplished only in a trusting and nourishing surrounding where boys can be themselves. By standing in the Kenly Dining Hall and observing the boys enter for a meal, the affection they have for one another is undeniable. No boy gets to his table without someone (and usually many) reaching out to physically touch and greet him as he passes. In some environments this tactility among middle school boys—this need to physically connect—is seen as an annoyance at best and something to be openly discouraged at worst. At Cardigan we recognize it is a gateway to growth and learning. The Cardigan experience is not a singular journey for any one boy. Rather, the relationships that are built here serve as the foundations for the boys’ growth. This growth comes in noticeable chunks and subtle degrees, yet none of it occurs in a vacuum, nor without the help of lots of people, peers, and caring adults, along the way.
Last August Cynthia and I drove to Maine to visit with Norman and Beverly Wakely. Serving from 1963- 1989, Norman was the longest tenured headmaster in Cardigan’s history. I knew that before I began my first school year as Cardigan’s head of school that I would be well served to pay a visit to this remarkable couple. During the course of our visit, Norm and Bev regaled with stories of Cardigan past as we tucked into a piece of Bev’s homemade apple pie. Eventually, as it was nearing our time to go, I asked Norm if he had any special advice for me as I started my tenure as head of school. He hesitated for a brief moment, put his plate aside and, looking right into my eyes, he said, “Love the boys.” And, after a brief hesitation, he continued, “Get to know them as individuals, and let them go as far as they can.”
Any parent reading this knows that no one knows a child like a parent. There is, however, one possible exception to this that I can think of. Perhaps the only one who knows a kid better and more completely than a parent is the kid himself. It was at that moment, sitting with Norm and Bev, that I realized that loving the boys and knowing the boys may not be as simple a maxim as I had originally thought. We must love the boys like they are our own, and as a parent I know exactly what a powerful force that is. And we must also know them as the individuals that they are, and as a parent I also know how confounding that endeavor can be at this age. But there’s more than just loving and knowing the boys. In his wispy but wise voice, Mr. Wakely also said, “and let them go as far as they can.” Daily we invite the boys to bloom as individuals, and to go as far as they can, and sometimes farther as brothers. Here on The Point, we know that together, through the powerful bond of relationships with one another, we make magic. This—all of this—is the promise of Cardigan.
Christopher D. Day P’12,’13
Head of School