A Tony nominee with her “Emmies”

What an afternoon. What a privilege. What a delight. On May 3rd, I attended a Broadway performance of 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda ‘55, with a group of Emma alums and current students. The students, pictured in this photo taken by Michael Rudd, are currently Fonda Scholars at Emma Willard. Our entire party was graciously welcomed up on the stage by Jane, after her superb performance as a terminally ill musicologist. (Fun to note that the very next morning, news of the Tony nominees broke, and 33 Variations picked up five nominations, including one for Jane.) If you want to see our entire party, go explore Jane’s blog, www.janefonda.com, which she is keeping to record her experience in the show. As you scroll through the entries, you will find a number of Emma Willard connections!

Principal’s Play Day

The most frequently asked question in any academic year is always–and forever will be: when is Principal’s Play Day? Do you have an opinion?

If this is Tuesday, it must be Taiwan

Molly Price, Emma’s top notch director of alumnae relations, and I just returned from our second annual trip to Asia. So many highlights made the list this year. There was a special “splendor feast of Taiwan” with forty-six items that required tasting from Wanluan pork knuckles to Tamsui iron eggs to Budai shark fin meatballs to Donggang salted mullet roe. The entire event taught us much about the role food plays in the Taiwanese culture and provided a serious lesson in the etiquette of a formal Chinese dinner. In Korea we discovered Changdeokgung, the hidden gardens of the king and queen, and soaked up some Korean history in the process. In Hong Kong there was the ride up the world’s largest outdoor pedestrian escalator. Of course it only goes up, so the walk down was quite interesting.  Any successful visit to Asia includes amazing gastronomic adventures, historic sites, and just plain marvelous adventures, but this trip included important lessons as well.

Our travels took us to the Sook Myung Girls School, the oldest girls school in Korea, much younger than Emma of course—a mere 100 years; the Stella Matutina Girls School, one of the best Catholic schools in Taiwan; and the Affiliated Senior High School of the National Taiwan Normal University, one of the largest co-ed high schools in the country. My tour guides for each were current Emma students who had transferred from these superb schools to travel around the globe to attend Emma Willard. It was a busman’s holiday to share tales of parental concerns, faculty priorities, pedagogy and more with the principals to whom I was introduced. While these were all fine, important schools, the differences could not have been more stunning. Each offered new lessons in alumnae involvement, teaching personal responsibility to adolescents, and implementing experimental curriculum. I am still processing all that I saw, grateful for the time these educators devoted to showing me “school” as they “do” it. And here is an unusual tidbit: several years prior to our visit, the teachers of the Stella Matutina Girls School gathered around to view The Emperor’s Club and discuss the moral questions it raised. Who knew?

It was my privilege in Korea to assist Molly in hosting the first ever young alumnae function in Korea. Did you know we now have over twenty Emma grads living there, including a captain in the U.S. Army? This is clearly a growing chapter!

It was my honor in Taiwan to experience an evening of Emma excellence during which our current students hosted our Taiwanese prospective students, demonstrating their musical talent between the many courses of a formal Chinese dinner. The surprise there? When our girls were asked by a prospective mother why they chose Emma, the number one answer way…drumroll…because it is all girls! And to think it is often suggested that being a single sex school is a liability in America….Perhaps there is much to be learned about marketing our school on the other side of the world.

It was a proud moment in Hong Kong when current students and parents and alums from 1978 to 2005 gathered around to see the view from the Peak and talk about the enduring strengths of the Emma Willard experience. I could feel the traditions of Emma binding us together even as the challenges we discussed rallied us to think creatively about the future of our school.

Of all the sights we saw, all the incredible food we tasted, and all the amazing people we met, do you know what stands out for me? The Emma Willard experience is a known entity in these corners of the world—known for intellectual rigor, superb faculty, extraordinary extracurricular opportunities and lifelong friendships.

Where in the world were you recently where you discovered an Emma Willard connection? Perhaps you were wearing your ring and someone noticed. Perhaps you were on a trip and you discovered the connection. Perhaps you bumped into someone who knew someone who knew of Emma Willard. Is there a story you can share that connects Emma to another corner of the world?

Did you happen to see the article in the New York Times entitled “As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in the Job Force?” Fascinating. Apparently 82 percent of recent layoffs have befallen men in manufacturing, construction and other blue collar industries. Health care and educational institutions, more typically employing women, are less likely to be impacted in a recession. So what does this mean? According to the article, as of November, women held 49.1 percent of the nation’s jobs. Given January’s continuing bad news about budget slashing, women may dominate the American work force for the first time in our country’s history. The implications of this trend are formidable. Child care, gendered roles on the home front, the role of women as the primary breadwinners for the family—all of these elements of our society may be up for an overhaul. Makes me wonder what the world will look like coming out the other end of this historic recession.

The economy has been on my mind a lot—for obvious reasons. After she read my recent letter to alumnae (please see http://emmawillard.org/economy/), one alumna who attended EW during World War II wrote to advise me that I should cancel spring break, as the headmistresses had done in 1944 in their effort to support the war effort by saving fuel. While this alumna noted, “it wasn’t the worst thing that happened to us,” I have a feeling that I might have a harder time getting away with it in 2009. Would love to hear your thoughts about ways we can use the headlines to provide life lessons for our students.

The best revels memory?

Over 7,000 alumnae of Emma Willard most likely have stories to tell about the bonding experience of the Revels tradition. Having just lived through the Revels created by the Class of 2009, I am convinced that there might actually be stories that top the rest. After reading this entry, I urge you to disagree politely and add your own story to the collection.

First there was the ice storm. Significant campus tree damage and no power for four days. Fortunately, a reliable, efficient, impressive generator kept Sage and Kellas warm, but the rest of campus was darkened and growing colder with each passing frigid moment. The senior class commandeered the new social spaces and began practices in earnest in the 2e-cafe and Kellas Commons, with sheets and blankets hung on doors and windows to keep the curious from discovering the secrets of Revels. The power returned in time for the seniors to have a technical run-through on Monday night, and it looked like we were back on course.

On Thursday evening, the hall was filled with a crowd of 300 alumnae and guests, all invited for a sneak preview and dress rehearsal. Horror of all horrors: just as the heralds began to sing their carol, the fire alarm sounded! What to do? Seniors in Revels costumes in lab theatre could not be sent to the chapel or the secrets of Revels would be revealed a day too early, and what about the guests who were not used to fire drill procedures? As luck would have it, a senior spray painting in the basement of Kiggins set off the alarm quite by accident, but the fire marshall insisted a full evacuation was in order. Out we all tromped into the chilly night, with seniors in their costumes huddled on the front circle while the audience struck out for the chapel until the drill was completed. We reassembled twenty minutes later, the heralds resumed their carol and once again, it appeared we were back on track.

On Friday the weather forecast was grim. And it lived up to the predictions. By mid afternoon we had a choice: open the tunnels so the girls could prance through in Revels finery, or run the risk of Emma girls in stiletto heels traipsing through a foot of newly fallen snow. It was an easy call; the tunnels were opened with great care. Interestingly, since no current student had been in the tunnels, (they have been closed for four years), we had to put guides at both ends to show them the way! Over forty of the many young alums who returned with good cheer for this annual tradition settled into the dorms following the performance as road conditions were abysmal.

And the drama was not over yet. Saturday dawned with more weather alerts, snow, cancelled flights and delays, but the show must go on. Many parents and grandparents missed the finale, and a number of seniors were stranded on campus given the winter weather. As the week concluded, with winter white all around, there was great pride in this class that had succeeded through inconvenience and calamity to present the 93rd Revels with the requisite zest and spirit.

Now, do you have a Revels story that tops this one? Do share…please!

An important celebration

In the coming years, Emma Willard School will celebrate an impressive number of important anniversaries. As you read this, I am certain that most of you are thinking about the BIG ONE: our 200th birthday. However, I am focused on an important anniversary that occurs this coming June, a mere six months from now.

This coming graduation, for the Class of 2009, will be the 100th graduation ceremony celebrated on the Mount Ida campus. It was one hundred years ago that the student body, the graduating class and their guests assembled on this campus for a groundbreaking and graduation festivities. Plans are in the works to make this a memorable moment for both the Class of 2009 and the school. Clearly, the choice of a graduation speaker is key. Should it be a person who is tied to our historical roots? Is there a need to make a more public statement? How can we pay attention to the moment and not overshadow the importance of recognizing the accomplishments of our graduates?

I am collecting wisdom from all sources and meeting with a committee that includes members of the Class of 2009 in early January. Advice, comments, ideas, suggestions and memories would be most welcome.

P.S. Note the band playing on top of the Sage port cochere!

The friend we never got to know

Like much of the rest of the world, all of us here in the Emma Willard community were shocked and saddened at the tragic events in Mumbai. Such senseless violence is difficult to understand, and the loss of life leaves us with a deep and painful sense of regret.  We were especially saddened to learn of the deaths of Naomi Scherr and her father, Alan.  Naomi and her parents visited our campus in early November where they had a tour, attended a class, enjoyed lunch with a member of the faculty, and spent time in the admissions office. Naomi was excited about the prospect of applying to Emma Willard, and we were impressed and intrigued by her talents and obvious academic potential. We have expressed our condolences to Naomi’s mother, Kia Scherr, who responded with remarkable grace in her time of trial. Our thoughts remain with the Scherr family and all those whose lives have been directly affected by this tragedy.

 

Amid sorrow and dismay, these events remind us of the myriad ways in which we, as global citizens, are increasingly connected. They also remind us that our world could use a greater supply of understanding, and that, as we know, is directly correlated to education. I know you join me as I long for the day when education coupled with tolerance brings lasting peace to our world. Let’s take just one moment to sit silently, before we launch back into our daily routines, and reflect upon how the world might turn differently if each of us applied our considerable energies to that task.

Where should Sasha and Malia go to school?

As an educator and a school leader, I have taken a special interest in the debate on the merits of public versus private school choice for Sasha and Malia Obama. Missing from the debate has been an obvious point: Sasha and Malia are girls. What is the best education for the girls who will be leaders tomorrow? 

 

If I were a parent looking at schools for my daughters, I would ask whether the curriculum reflects the differences in how boys and girls learn?  Are teachers trained to teach to these differences?  How will girls be taught to approach science and math at their school?  What opportunities exist for leadership?

 

Single-sex education, a terrific fit for so many girls, would get my vote. Within such an environment, girls take extraordinary intellectual risks, employ their voices powerfully, and experience no limits in imagining their future roles.  The robotics class and the brass section will be filled with girls.  The freedom and power inherent in these learning and developmental experiences are undeniable.

 

All parents, but especially the Obamas, have unique considerations when it comes to school choice.  Whatever the decision, I hope the process will always include a careful look at the advantages of a girls’ school.  Especially for those girls who aspire to  leadership roles. After all, while the United States may now claim its first African American president, we are all still waiting for the first woman president.

Are you thinking about the economy? We are.

 

The economy and tomorrow’s election are the two hottest topics nationally, as well as here on Mount Ida. As I indicated in my letter to you, which you received this morning via e-mail (please see http://www.emmawillard.org/about/head_of_school/messages/challenges.html), we are confident that we will weather this financial storm, as we have weathered many challenging times in the past two centuries–to include the closing of the tunnels! Nonetheless, it would be imprudent not to consider ways in which we can best steward our resources. Heavy on my mind is finding creative ways to reduce budgetary strain. If you have suggestions – even unconventional ideas – I invite you to share them with me. Likewise, any thoughts regarding my letter to you are more than welcome. Your wise counsel is greatly appreciated.  Emma Willard School has thrived because our community is comprised of smart, savvy, engaged, and committed people. In times such as these, those attributes will make a grand difference in the ways in which we imagine our future.

How is educating girls in the 21st century different?

I was asked to participate in a plenary session at an upcoming Women’s Studies Conference entitled “Girls’ Culture and Girls’ Studies: Surviving, Reviving Celebrating Girlhood.” Interestingly, the notion of girls’ studies is “in vogue.” The conference includes such broad topics as empowerment, girls’ rights, girls’ play, leadershp, media, sexuality,girls of color, global perspectives, and popular culture. While it is hard to imagine how we will address all these topics in a mere two days, it is far more fascinating to contemplate why there is such interest in girls’ studies at this moment in time.

For my session, I will be partnered with a colleague who is the principal of the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls in Albany. Her world is not my world to be certain. Still, as we prepared for our session, I marveled that we shared essentially the same message: girls’ education is the story of girls in relationship. The third member of the panel is a co-head of a new girls school in Toronto, one that promotes feminist thinking. She brings an international perspective to the question we were asked to discuss: How is educating girls in the 21st century different?

I gathered some Emma faculty on campus last week to collect some perspectives, but would welcome any and all insights from those who stumble across this blog before October 18th. Is educating girls the same everywhere? How can we make single sex education relevant? What does it mean to educate girls in a global age? Big questions to be sure, but made more interesting when others weigh in. So please do.