April 22, 2010 - Pingry School

“I’m lovin’ it.” “Diamondsare forever.” “Is it in you?”“Just do it.” “Excellence andHonor.” All of these statementshave an important characteristicin common: theyare, of course, slogans used toattract people to a certainproduct or institution.The difference betweenthem, however, is stark.The first three sloganscome from multi-billiondollar corporations withmulti-million dollar advertisingcampaigns. Thefourth is Pingry’s recenteffort to brand itself.In October 2007, Pingryannounced the launchof “an ambitious newStrategic Plan.” In orderto attract exceptionalstudents, the plan outlinedthe enhancement of“marketing and brandingto ensure that Pingry’sreputation is exceptional.”While some mayoverlook such a phrase,I believe that the issue ofbranding a school raises somepersonal concerns.In the first place, brandingand brand management aretypically corporate actionstaken to increase profit bymaking a comparison withcompeting products morefavorable. Although Pingryis technically a corporation,we are not a business benton making money. We are aschool—a warm, safe, andhopeful place—and branding,because of its associationwith corporations, is intrinsicallythe opposite: cold andheartless.Second, the new sloganseems to imply a state of beingrather than a goal. We areunique because we are excellentand honorable; however,this thinking is inherentlyflawed. We are suggestingTHE PINGRY RECORD COMMENTARY APRIL 22, 2010Concerns With Branding Pingry and Living Up to Our ReputationBy SHAAN GURNANI (V)that we are more excellent andmore honorable than otherschools. Perhaps our students,our graduates, and our facultyare better. However, how canwe make a comparison ifthere is no uniform scale tomeasure these qualities? Wecan’t.Most importantly, we mustfocus on making our schoolactually definitive of thesequalities rather than on makingpeople think that we are. Ifwe continue to build our namesimply through quality of results,people will come to us.We should follow the Latinphrase “Esse quam videri,”meaning “To be, rather thanto seem to be,” by earningand building our reputation. Iagree with Daniel J. Boorstin,the twelfth Librarian of theU.S. Congress, who said: “Animage is not simply a trademark,a design, a slogan or aneasily remembered picture. Itis a studiously crafted personalityprofile of an individual,institution, corporation, productor service.”Pingry is already an amazinginstitution, with greatstudents and faculty, surelyat least somewhat representativeof excellence and honor.As a new junior entering Pingryin September, I had no ideawhat to expect. The stories that Ihad heard about the private schoolenvironment were not very encouraging,and I consequently beganthe school year with a feelingof apprehension. However, as theweeks began to pass, my feelingof uneasiness faded as I graduallyadjusted to the new atmosphere. Itdid not feel like a drastic changefrom life at Voorhees High School,the public school that I had previouslyattended, but it was a changenevertheless, and I eventuallybecame accustomed to all thatis Pingry.Until a couple of weeks ago,however, I had failed to realizehow truly distinctive our school’sculture was. As I sat in front of mytelevision at home, idly flippingthrough channels to see if therewas anything worth watching, Ihappened to land on a local newsstation that was doing a story onVoorhees. Two students had apparentlybeen arrested for involvementin two separate bomb threatsas well as the possession of M-80firecrackers that had spurred threedays of school-wide evacuations.As I listened to the description ofthe circumstances under whichthese events took place, I couldnot help but think to myself thatthe likelihood of a parallel situa-completely strange middle school.tion happening at Pingry was verysmall.Although I do not think Voorheesto be inferior to Pingry becauseof one unfortunate incident,the occurrence prompted me toreflect upon the reasons that hadled me to such a conclusion. Essentially,I asked myself, “Whatmakes Pingry unique?”The first thing that comes tomind is the Honor Code. Thisconstant reminder of the importanceof honorableconduct is a majorfactor when consideringthe overallidentity of Pingry.Such emphasis onmoral behaviorand the consideration of othershas shaped the student body into acommunity that exhibits tolerance,understanding, and respect. Onething that especially surprised meat the beginning of the year wasthe fact that students could leavetheir bags in the hallways withoutHowever, as I stated previously,it is nearly impossibleto find a uniform scale withwhich to measure these twoqualities. Rankings are animportant measurement tool,but they are certainly not everything.In terms of rankings,our students perform well academically,receiving high SATscoresand gaining admission to topcolleges. Athletically, wewin state championships andindividual accolades. Artistically,we showcase students’impressive talent in music, visualarts, and performing arts.Moreover, our teachers areall highly qualified and ourresources and facilities aresuperb. Finally, the qualitiesof students are impressive:many of us serve the communityextensively and careabout world issues.Even so, I would argue thatthere is, and always will be,room for improvement. Forexample, we should encouragestudents to embrace learningoutside of the classroom,by increasing participation inclubs, including the DebateTeam, Model UN, and languageclubs, and publications,including The Pingry Recordfear that their personal belongingswould be stolen. I attribute this illustrationof trust to the presenceof an Honor Code, an equivalentof which I did not have at myprevious school.While the Honor Code maybe the school’s major definingfeature, Pingry also has othertraditions that contribute to theformation of a unique student environment.One such custom is theestablishment and enforcement ofa dress code, generallyseen by thestudent body asa negative aspectof Pingry life. Ican specificallyremember onestudent proclaiming that the dresscode represents an impediment tothe freedom of self-expression. AlthoughI agree with this statementto a certain extent, I also feel thatrules regarding the improprietyof particular items of clothing areunderstandable and justified in anyand Vital Signs. We shouldstimulate students to do communityservice out of a desireto help rather than simplyto complete their requiredhours. We should positionour school to be more globallyoriented, as junior AlbertMagnell suggested in hisrecent op-ed for The Record.For example, we couldshare artwork, music,and athletic highlightswith students aroundthe world. And, whilewe have impressive resources,we should urgestudents to make greateruse of these resources.For example, teachersare usually available,and students should takeadvantage of this by interactingwith them andgaining whatever theycan, even if they don’thave an essay due or needhelp on a math problem.With respect to honor,although we do have anHonor Code, it does applyand should be takenC.Laud (VI) more seriously outsideof the classroom. For example,we should look to theHonor Code in the arts and onthe playing fields. Senior KateDreyfuss quoted the HonorCode in a fall op-ed for TheRecord as she urged studentsto observe proper concertetiquette.Moreover, we are all toofamiliar with the smack talkbetween Pingry and WatchungHills preceding, during, andfollowing the first ice hockeygame; we must continue tofocus not only on athleticexcellence, but also on maintainingour sportsmanship. Inorder to “actively engage thestudent body in its commitmentto the Honor Code,” werecently added the signing andpresenting of the Honor Codeto Convocation proceedings.In years past, the school votedon whether to keep the HonorA New Junior's Discovery of What It Meansto Join a Distinctive High School CultureBy JASMINE OGHAZ (V)B. Hamm Conard (V)What makes Pingry so unique? No, it's not the monstrous clock tower or the pretty yetEssentially, I askedmyself, "What makesPingry unique?"educational institution. Furthermore,the absence of a dress codecan tarnish the image of a schoolif it is taken advantage of. I don’tmean to say that skirt length is directlyproportional to the caliber ofa specific institution, but I concedethat appropriate attire does contributeto a reputation of respectabilityand professionalism.Lastly, class size and the student-teacherrelationship are alsoqualities that set Pingry apart.The relatively small number ofstudents per class creates a moreone-on-one interaction betweenteachers and their pupils. Moreover,the productivity of a classgreatly increases when there arefewer students, especially in thesciences where lab materialssometimes need to be shared. Inaddition, teachers’ willingnessto help students during ConferencePeriod further enhances thestudent-teacher relationship andcontributes to Pingry’s uniqueidentity as a school.Code, and I propose that wereinstate this process. Finally,students should take the HonorCode past the boundariesof school; we are the futureleaders of America, and if weare motivated by self-interestlike the current leaders ofcorporate America seem to be,the economy will be doomedagain and the country mightnever recover.So, will we be able to continueto attract strong facultymembers and exceptional studentswithout actively definingour own reputation? Well,we have done so for almost150 years. However, let’s takea look the corporate world forguidance. Google is undoubtedlythe leading company inEDITORIALPromaramaMy mother went to two proms. She likes to brag about herdates, both of whom were attractive, as you can make out fromthe grainy photographs she keeps in a dilapidated album inher closet. My father didn’t go to any. He chose to skip theminstead. He was one of those kids. And me, as of April 15, I’vegone to three.It’s funny to think where I was at those dances comparedto where I am now. Even just looking at the pictures, I cantell that I was in a different place. For the first Prom, I was a16-year-old sophomore who had managed to secure an olderdate and, accordingly, a highly sought after invitation. It hadbeen my mission to go to Prom with my best friend, who hadluckily managed to find a date as well. We thought we wereunbelievably cool. Once we actually got to the ballroom, wewere obnoxious, abandoning our dates and pretty much overrunningthe dance floor. We had a blast, but I look back at thepictures and realize that I’m standing almost a foot away frommy date, who was more than a full foot taller than me, and amclearly not as a comfortable or confident as I felt.Preparing for Prom junior year was pretty much a microcosmof junior year itself. In the midst of all of the SAT prepping, APexam studying, and college visiting, it was stressful finding adate, and even my dress was difficult to deal with. I could barelybreathe, sit down, or walk in it for that matter. Still, because ofthe people I was with, I had a good time, and my smile in thepictures isn’t nearly as forced or awkward as it was the yearbefore.And this year, well, it was the best one yet. Our table, designatedby an eight of spades playing card protruding from thecenterpiece, was one of the few of twelve people. The grouploitering around it changed throughout the night: everyone atthe beginning to stare at their salads while discussing televisionshows, to a gaggle of girls with aching feet, to Matt Zubrow (VI)who abandoned his own table to eat my dessert. Still, regardlessof who was there, everyone had the same thing to say about howmuch fun they were having. Really, the entire night — fromchatting with Mr. Keating for a ridiculously long time to all ofthe attendees rushing to dance at the first sound of Lil Jon’s voiceat the beginning of “Shots” — felt simple and carefree.I’d like to interject by saying that I didn’t set out to writeabout Prom. It is the cliché to end all clichés. However, lastweek, while I was sitting at the couches, I was contemplatingwhat to write about for my editorial. A friend asked whether Ihad anything to complain about. I asked her what she meant, andshe replied, “I think people are driven to write when they havea complaint. That’s probably why you’re having trouble.”It’s true: I really don’t have anything to complain aboutregarding Prom or anything else. I think these past weeks aresome of the best that I’ve ever had. I’ve finally been able to concentrateon the classes that interest me the most, have had timeto do things for fun, and have adopted a regular sleep schedulefor the first time in three years. And of course, it’s beautifuloutside: it’s hard not to feel happy when you’re driving withyour windows down.So, I guess that brings me to my point in an appropriatelylackadaisical way. Prom is a tradition that takes place everyyear. While the customs associated with it don’t change (dateswill always have to buy each other a boutonnière or corsage,attend some form of a pre-party where their parents can takean insane amount of pictures, and cram themselves into a limowith a group of similarly dolled up teenagers), our state ofmind does. I’ve come such a long way since I was a freshmangiddily imagining what I would wear at my own Senior Promwhile stalking pictures that the upperclassmen had posted onFacebook. And getting here, to this content place senior year,kind of like that ride in the limo full of anticipation of the nightto come, has been well worth the troubles along the way.—Jenny Gorelick3its industry. This multi-billiondollar corporation has a strongreputation and it is admiredfor the quality of its products.Can you quote its slogan?Neither can I. Google doesn'thave a significant brandingor marketing campaign. Infact, the first ad for GoogleI’ve ever seen aired duringthis year’s Super Bowl. Thepoint is Google built its strongname on the product it produces– not simple slogans.So the answer is yes. Yes, wewill continue to attract strongfaculty members and exceptionalstudents to Pingry. Nowthat we have already beenbranded, however, let’s focuson living up to our reputationand improving upon it.