Giving Back in Gratitude

Each year, the Eighth Grade, guided by their teacher Tom Ryan, leads our school-wide Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. This morning found the boys busy lifting boxes filled with turkeys and canned goods, and packing the van that will transport the food to the Lion of Judah Assembly and Bethel Community Church.

Throughout November, the eighth graders collected nonperishable food from boys in all classes and ran a pie sale, with proceeds going toward the purchase of the turkeys. The Thanksgiving Food Drive is our school's oldest community action project, and it is met each year with enthusiasm and initiative on the part of our boys.

Giving back, doing good by helping those in need, is one of the most powerful ways we can express gratitude for our myriad blessings.

Recently, I met with an alum at his high school, where he is a senior, at the brink of adulthood. When reflecting on the motto of Saint David's, "That they be good men," he said: "Saint David's is where I was raised. It wasn’t just where I went to school. I spent more than half my life there. Every day now when I have to make a decision that questions my values, I think of it. The motto has stuck with me more than a lot of things."

As we enter this Holiday season, let us be grateful, and celebrate our unique human ability for reason, for service, and for doing good and being good. Ut viri boni sint. Happy Thanksgiving!

Resilience in the Teaching of Languages

Above: The Nerf microphone ball enables boys learning remotely to hear their classmates well. The pandemic has challenged educators to reinvent and reimagine units of study to keep learning engaging, regardless of how it is delivered. The following article, written for Saint David’s Magazine by our Modern Languages Chair Dr. Victoria Gilbert and Lower School Spanish teacher Flor Berman, addresses how this was done in the Spanish immersion language program at Saint David's. Ms. Berman and Dr. Gilbert, recipient of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers' Ruth E. Wasley Distinguished Teacher Award, presented on the topic at NYSAIS’s Flexible Classroom Conference last summer. How Spanish Classes Have Bounced Back Resiliency implies an ability to bounce back, but as teachers working with the youngest learners in the school, we would reframe resiliency as the opportunity to reimagine. Whether boys are learning through a face-to-face experience or through the med

The Role of Faith in Social-Emotional Learning and Psychological Well-Being

The following article by our School Psychologist, Dr. Michael Schwartzman, appears in the current issue of Saint David's Magazine : During one of my first observations in a Saint David’s classroom 15 years ago, I witnessed two first grade boys in a verbal altercation. Although it was contained just between the two boys, their observant teacher had them talk it through and then shake hands on being in a better place for having done so. I was very impressed, and still am, with this approach that the school takes many times throughout the day. It helps establish a firm idea of how to behave, especially in social situations where emotions can be stirred and run high. Through this experience repeated consistently day in and day out, better, more productive ways of engaging become increasingly integrated by the boys as they develop socially and emotionally in interaction with each other. As the School Psychologist, I spend a lot of time thinking about the touch points for student and t

Storytelling Demonstrates Understanding

Their time had arrived. As the lights dimmed in our Otto-Bernstein Theatre, the astrophysicists, a mix of jitters and excitement, awaited their opportunity to share insights and stories about the workings of the universe. Which planets might support life? Is there water on Mars? What are Dwarf Planets? "Let's take a look at our closest neighbor, Venus," invited one presenter, before revealing that the planet - while ideal in proximity - has surface temperatures of 900 degrees F: "Imagine - standing on the surface would be like being burned alive!" Later that same day, in our Graham lunchroom, early 20th century immigrants of all ages from Italy, China, Ireland, Russia, among other countries, waited, with hope and determination, their turn to be interviewed for admittance to America. It wasn't going to be easy. They would be asked pointed, potentially life-altering questions by various processors. "What's that cough? It doesn't sound good,&qu

David O'Halloran, Headmaster - Saint David's School, New York City

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