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News & Photos
A New Year, A Fresh Start
It is my pleasure to welcome you all here to begin another school year. We are fortunate to be gathered in a beautiful outdoor setting on a gorgeous late summer day.
As you contemplate the day and the year before you, perhaps the possibilities seem endless – at least, I hope they do to you.
During the years that we spend in school as students and, like me, as teachers, we get that rare opportunity to start over in a very real sense every September. Most of us welcome a new start and relish the feeling that perhaps this time we will get it right.
I must confess that I had a reason to look forward to this summer of 2007 because I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and, as I am sure you are aware, the last book of the series was released in July.
In fact, I ran into some of you in Barnes and Noble at midnight on July 20 while we all waited in line for our copies of the book.
I have read and reread all the books in the series and I certainly have many favorite scenes and characters from them. But there is one particular scene that I have been thinking about lately and it is not from book 7 but rather from book two – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
This scene occurs at the very end of the book, after Harry has put an end to the monster in the chamber of secrets. He is talking with Professor Dumbledore, the wise old headmaster of the school.
Harry is troubled because he has discovered many strong similarities between himself and the villain of the story, Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore asks Harry to try to focus on how he is different from Voldemort. Harry has a hard time coming up with anything of much significance except that he was determined from the outset not to do the things that Voldemort had done.
Dumbledore assures him that this is exactly the important difference – “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
I agree completely. Each of us has a unique personality and a distinct set of talents and abilities. But our character, our integrity, is formed and defined by our choices rather than by our potential. I hope that in the year ahead you will choose to act with honesty, kindness, courage, respect, compassion, loyalty, and humility.
Such choices will never let you down or disappoint others. Such choices will draw people to you, win their respect and loyalty, and ultimately lead you to success.
It is my pleasure to welcome you all here to begin another school year. We are fortunate to be gathered in a beautiful outdoor setting on a gorgeous late summer day.
As you contemplate the day and the year before you, perhaps the possibilities seem endless – at least, I hope they do to you.
During the years that we spend in school as students and, like me, as teachers, we get that rare opportunity to start over in a very real sense every September. Most of us welcome a new start and relish the feeling that perhaps this time we will get it right.
I must confess that I had a reason to look forward to this summer of 2007 because I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and, as I am sure you are aware, the last book of the series was released in July.
In fact, I ran into some of you in Barnes and Noble at midnight on July 20 while we all waited in line for our copies of the book.
I have read and reread all the books in the series and I certainly have many favorite scenes and characters from them. But there is one particular scene that I have been thinking about lately and it is not from book 7 but rather from book two – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
This scene occurs at the very end of the book, after Harry has put an end to the monster in the chamber of secrets. He is talking with Professor Dumbledore, the wise old headmaster of the school.
Harry is troubled because he has discovered many strong similarities between himself and the villain of the story, Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore asks Harry to try to focus on how he is different from Voldemort. Harry has a hard time coming up with anything of much significance except that he was determined from the outset not to do the things that Voldemort had done.
Dumbledore assures him that this is exactly the important difference – “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
I agree completely. Each of us has a unique personality and a distinct set of talents and abilities. But our character, our integrity, is formed and defined by our choices rather than by our potential. I hope that in the year ahead you will choose to act with honesty, kindness, courage, respect, compassion, loyalty, and humility.
Such choices will never let you down or disappoint others. Such choices will draw people to you, win their respect and loyalty, and ultimately lead you to success.