2010-11 Donor Report - The Country School

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The Country SchoolMessage to Grandparentsand Special FriendsNeil Musfson, HeadmasterFor some people their favorite day of the school year is the first day, or Graduation,or the day before Christmas break, or our field day. But mine is Grandparents andSpecial Friends Day, because of how utterly excited the children are and becauseof the chance to celebrate the special connection you share.Your participation speaks to the total dedication youdevote to your grandchild or special friend. They sensethat commitment to them, that almost unconditionalpositive regard you surround them with, and they knowit’s a rare thing and a great blessing in their lives, even ifthey can’t quite put it into words.Your presence makes a huge difference in these younglives. I’m grateful for the influence you have on them, forall the positive growth and happiness you make possible.It’s much more substantial than you may suspect.Clearly we are a school that offers a challenging, enrichedcurriculum, that teaches the children all the skills theyneed so that the doors of future opportunity are openfor them. But in the last few years, we have also beenfocusing more pointedly on learning to serve others.I want to share with you a little bit about a programwe started a couple of years ago, after considerablefaculty discussion, that we call Helping Others, HelpingOurselves, or HO, HO for short. It is a service learningprogram that gets kids at every grade level involved inan on-going, hands-on service project in our community.In fact, I think this initiative is connected to your roleas a grandparent or special friend because in that role,you selflessly do for others, you constantly model goingbeyond yourself, and you demonstrate your belief in thepower of human connectedness.Your grandchildren and special friends have writtenabout how they know they are special to you, and theircomments are a reflection of just how important yourpositive influence is. One child wrote that “You teachthem to be considerate of others.” A 4th grader said,“They tell me never to leave anyone out.” Someone elseremarked, “They always tell me to stop and help others…particularly if they drop something.” Another wrote, “Theyalso teach me that people are poor and that I want tochange that.” An 8th grader said, “My grandparents teachme to accept people.” Another said, “They taught me thatif you help others you will get help as well.” Someone elsesaid, “They tell me to help others because it is the rightthing to do.” An 8th grader pulled it together by saying,“They tell me it’s good to help others because it makespeople happy.” So, they sense your model here.A few years ago I was given a copy of a book called MyGrandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD. In it,she tells of some of the key lessons she learned from hergrandfather about serving others. She begins the book bytelling this story:“Often, when he came to visit, my grandfather wouldbring me a present. These were never the sorts of thingsthat other people brought, dolls and books and stuffedanimals…Once he brought me a little paper cup. I looked inside itexpecting something special. It was full of dirt. I was notallowed to play with dirt. Disappointed, I told him this. Hesmiled at me fondly. Turning, he picked up the little teapotfrom my doll’s tea set and took me into the kitchen wherehe filled it with water. Back to the nursery, he put thelittle cup on the windowsill and handed me the teapot.‘If you promise to put some water in the cup every day,something will happen,’ he told me.Remen then goes on to say how difficult the waiting was,how her grandfather continued to encourage her to pourwater in the cup, even during a third week when she wasstarting to forget to water it and had to get out of bed andwater it in the dark.She writes, “But I did not miss a single day. And onemorning, there were two little leaves that had not beenthere the night before. I was completely astonished.Day by day they got bigger. I could not wait to tell mygrandfather, certain that he would be as surprised as Iwas. But of course he was not. Carefully he explained tome that life is everywhere, hidden in the most ordinaryand unlikely places. I was delighted. ‘And all it needsis water, Grandpa?’ I asked him. ‘No. All it needs is yourfaithfulness.’This was perhaps my first lesson in the power of service,but I did not understand it in this way then... He wouldhave said when we remember to bless life, we can repairthe world.”continued on Page 54
The Country SchoolCommitment to ServiceCathy StegTwo years ago, The Country School, reinvented our approach to the wayour students experience community service. Our new motto, “HelpingOthers, Helping Ourselves,” captured the essence of what we hopedthe children would learn by engaging in regular, sustained volunteer work:that everyone can make a difference; that small, everyday actions matter;that material goods aren’t everything; that long-term commitments andfollow-through are important, and that it is crucial to be a part of somethingbigger than oneself.Now, with service as our school-wide focus, faculty The projects are as varied as the students in ourand students in both the Lower and Upper Schools advisory groups, emphasizing everything fromengage in regular volunteer work in our community environmental stewardship to compassionateon the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. work with the elderly and the poor. HighlightsIn the Upper School, students in grades 6-8 from 2010-2011 include the following:work together in their advisories (groups of 8-10--partnering with Hospice House, paintingstudents led by faculty advisors) to brainstormHalloween pumpkins for each Hospice guest,ways to share their gifts and unique talents withcooking homemade vegetable soup and brownies,others. Each advisory researches the needs in theraking leaves on the property, and volunteering incommunity and develops a special relationshipthe office.with a group to which they will dedicate theirefforts for at least one full school year, learning --working with Pickering Creek Audubon Centerempathy as they spend time in service. The entire to help preserve wildlife habitat, monitor waterUpper School goes out to perform their service quality, and participate in annual nationwide birdduring four special afternoons each year. In counts.addition, individual advisories take some or all oftheir members out to volunteer more frequently. --comforting animals, cleaning and maintainingshelters, and working to get animals adopted atour local Talbot Humane Society.--befriending students at the nearby BenedictineSchool for children with intellectual disabilities,visiting them at their campus several times forgames and celebrations, and inviting them toour school to watch our musical production, TheMusic Man.--serving as mentors and special friends,throughout the year, for the young children at thelocal Critchlow-Adkins Day Care Center--offering regular service to Easton’s historic SpringHill Cemetery, by helping to maintain the groundsand by participating in historical and genealogicalresearch about some of the people buried at thesite whose backgrounds date from as far back asthe Revolutionary War.--collecting cigarette butts at various publiclocations around Easton and developing antismokingpublic service announcements for thelocal radio station, in order to educate peopleabout the negative impact of smoking as well asthe danger to the environment of littered cigarettebutts.--visiting the elderly residents at St. Marks Villagein Easton in order to provide recreation andentertainment through bingo games run by thestudents; offering useful household products asprizes (the prizes are purchased through fundsraised by the students in lemonade and hot cocoastands throughout the year).--supporting Habitat for Humanity by helpingto prepare sites for new home construction,preparing welcome baskets for new families, andbuilding a shed for use on a new home built byother Habitat volunteers.Message to Grandparents and Special Friends… continued from page 4Dr. Remen grew up to become an oncologist and she certainly devotes her lifeto serving others, to very literally helping repair the world.Part of what we want Country School children to learn through serving othersis the unimagined impact that even small actions can have. As Dr. Remenwrote, “Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us inprofound ways: the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness tolisten generously, the warm smile or wink of recognition... Big messages comein small packages. All it may take to restore someone’s trust in life may bereturning a lost earring or a dropped glove.”As a grandparent or special friend, you know the way a small act can makea huge difference to a child. Just your interest, just your being with yourgrandchild or special friend is a powerful example of this.Our Helping Others, Helping Ourselves program was also conceived to teachour children some other powerful things: that everyone can make a difference;that doing matters; that small, every day actions can have a big human impact;that it’s important to be part of something bigger than oneself; and that a partof individual responsibility is to help others, to help make the world better.Through HO, HO, we also want kids to get the message that long-termcommitment and follow through are important, that stuff and material goodsaren’t everything, and that by helping others, we also help ourselves.Helping children exert their own goodness is part of what we are committed toat The Country School. I know it is a part of what you are committed to as youhelp your grandchildren and special friends grow. It’s part of what they senseyour model is all about, and it has huge potential impact, and I thank you for it.5
Page 1 and 2: FALL 2011COUNTRYLINES& ANNUAL REPOR
Page 3: Graduation 2011Prizes and AwardsMAT
Page 7 and 8: The Country SchoolDonor Report2010-
Page 9 and 10: 2010-2011Honor Roll of DonorsIt is
Page 11 and 12: 2010-2011Honor Roll of DonorsWillia
Page 13 and 14: 2010-2011Honor Roll of DonorsLoyalt
Page 15 and 16: 2010-2011Fundraisers2011 Golf Class
Page 17 and 18: 2010-2011The Luminary SocietyThe Lu
Page 19 and 20: News from theParents’ Association
Page 21 and 22: Family TiesNews from our AlumniDORS
Page 23 and 24: A Review of…Set Design WorkshopSu

2010-11 Donor Report - The Country School

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