Thoughts over the Fourth

So, I pulled a muscle in my abdomen last week which made it very difficult to follow Coach Zaga's regimen. Upper body work was ok, but anything that strained my 'core' (apparently, the core is important...) was off-limits. Matt Pena (Dean of Students) explained to me that I needed to do very little over the weekend while I was at home. That meant no making of beds, no gardening, no taking the garbage out. He suggested that I explain this to my wife and if she had questions, she should direct them to him or to coach Zaga. I guess there are silver linings, after all...

At any rate, I believe the rest did me well - the pain has disappeared and I feel ready to resume the full workouts today at noon. I noticed this morning that my belt notched one notch smaller and felt rather comfortable. Tangible evidence of success.

I caught wind of a new-ish film called Race to Nowhere that's stirring up some interesting conversation about the drive to overschedule, push, and prod our students in order to 'prepare them' for _________ (you fill in the blank.)

With increased pressure to compete for places in universities across the country and with a globalized workforce, we're going to be under the gun to ensure our kids here at Casady are in the best position to succeed. While we produce thinkers and athletes and artists - kids who have a passion to strive for excellence, we need to make certain that they are rewarded for their efforts and that they have the time to go deep when they want to. We have to find ways to develop our students' passions for a life of the mind and an ability to thrive in an increasingly diverse world.

There are many ways to think about preparing our kids for success; I'm hoping that the conversation among faculty next year will generate some excellent ideas and motivate our community to rally for our students.  21st century teaching methodologies must coexist within our traditional academic curriculum; finding the right balance is key. The three r's: reading, writing and arithmetic are still important, but not without relevance, rigor, and relationships driving the work.

Off to the gym...