Starting With Courage

As school was starting at St. Johnsbury Academy this year, and we were thinking about our theme of “Courage,” I asked some of my colleagues here to think about the year ahead and point to something that they knew they wanted to accomplish that they knew would take courage. In their answers I noticed people pointing to a practice that is at the heart of everything we do and all of the education we offer–and it’s there because it is hard.

That practice is holding ourselves and one another accountable for our actions, and for living up to the expectations that we have set for this relatively small space where we hold sway.

So what does that mean? Why does it take courage to hold one another accountable to the standards of the community?

I thought about what I knew was going to take courage for me, as Headmaster, this year at the Academy.  As we study ourselves for approvals and accreditations, and consider our paths into the future, what will take the most courage is looking hard at the reality of who we are as a school community and understanding where we need to improve. And then it will take courage to try and make those improvements.

Our students do this every day, day after day, as they confront what they don’t know and need to learn. They live that–it’s what school is. Their job as students–and as artists and athletes and performers and leaders–is to think continually about where they need to do better.  It takes tons of courage to do that kind of self-measurement every day, and I don’t imagine most adults would be eager, or even willing, to engage with our deficiencies so intensely.

So students are my inspiration as I look for the ways that we need to improve as a school, and then try to help us to be better. Recently some students have asked us to look hard at where they see a disconnect between what we say we are and who we want to be.

This takes courage. But less obviously, it takes hope and optimism for students to come to us this way–they are expressing a belief that we are capable of better. We are lucky to have a compassionate and capable team at the Academy who engage with students in lots of contexts and look out for those who need specific support. But they also need and deserve to be supported by a larger system that feels safe; and this takes work to build.

It’s not work we can outsource or bring in a consultant to train us about. It’s not only work for representatives of different groups. It’s made up of both big moments and small moments that add up to culture. And most importantly, it is work for all of us.

As we start this new year with courage, St. Johnsbury Academy has dedicated time, resources, energy, and commitment to building the most welcoming and equitable school culture we can–with education and support for the whole community to understand what that means for us.

We are part of the world, so what happens there will also happen here–including ugliness and ignorance alongside beauty, triumph and goodness. What matters is how we respond as an institution, what systems we have in place to protect all students and make school a place they can abide confidently as themselves. We need to have the courage to respond with both words and actions, and with the integrity that holds those together.

Discomfort will always be part of learning and growth–and part of our mission is to always be learning. St. Johnsbury Academy–like society generally–is imperfect, and made up of humans, including myself. But we are humans ready to be courageous on behalf of all our students, our colleagues, our local community and beyond, and to be who we need to be for one another.