During today’s assembly, nine School Leader candidates shared brief speeches on Proctor’s core values of respect, responsibility, honesty, and compassion. Over the past week, this group of rising seniors has stepped out on a limb to be considered for School Leader by their peers and by faculty. They have taken part in two student panel conversations and have risked failure in a very public manner. Today, we take a closer look at what one of our core values: compassion.
Grey ‘17 had to share his speech from overseas as he is off-campus this term on Proctor en Segovia. While he was unable to deliver his speech in person, his words provided remarkable insights into the heart and mind of a high school junior as he unpackaged his thoughts on every community needing a foundation of compassion.
“Without compassion, Proctor’s other three core values are unable to exist authentically in our community. I can get to class on time, and do all of my homework and be responsible for myself all day long, but if I am not good to the people around me and invested in them, then who really cares? That respect, honesty, and responsibility I exhibit is a facade.”
He continued, “Ten, twenty years from now, we will not remember the content we study in class, nor we really care what the weekend activities were. What we will remember are the relationships we have forged with those around us. Everywhere on our campus you can see how much students and faculty genuinely care about each other. Kids, and probably adults too, risk vulnerability here and do things that are outside of their normal routines because they feel safe and cared about. They trust each other. We listen to each other and celebrate with each other. We support each other when things are tough and I think we judge each other way less than kids at most high schools. That is what compassion looks like, and I think it is what separates us from a lot of other school communities. To me, the other three core values are important, but they are a natural byproduct of living a compassionate life for those around you.”
Each school leader candidate demonstrated the byproduct of the compassionate community Grey described as they stepped in front of the community to share their goals, ambitions and visions for the community. Over the next week, we will vote for next year’s School Leader and Assistant School Leader. Based on today’s demonstration of character, regardless of who is appointed to lead our student body, we are clearly in good hands and surrounded by young people who understand what it takes to sustain a healthy, vibrant, and compassionate community.
