Designing a Perfectly Imperfect Holiday Season

As we move into a time of gratitude with the celebrations of light that can help us through the winter solstice and into the renewal of the new year, we can simultaneously face the pressures of pleasing others, of reuniting with families and friends, and of making the holidays memorable and joyful—as well, perhaps, as the anticipation of disappointment when things might not feel as “perfect” as we planned.

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Lessons from Election Season

It’s hard to ignore the swirling emotions that are building the closer we get to November 5, as the anticipation of what the news cycle might bring can lead to unease and uncertainty. At Turning Point, we have the anchoring responsibility of our shared commitment to children. In the coming days, teachers and staff will continue to provide a non-anxious presence that encourages students to access curiosity and compassion when exploring their own questions and feelings around the election. This also affords us an excellent opportunity to teach about the democratic process in age-appropriate ways.

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Our Breathtaking Capacity for Hope

William Bruggemann, the renowned scholar, wrote that hope is a “tenacious act of imagination.” This concept requires us to remain committed to envisioning a future that transcends our current understanding and invites us to dream freely of new possibilities. Even with broken hearts, we have the ability to hold the complex and often messy truths of our world. We can resist oversimplified narratives that paint conflicts in black and white, labeling one side as entirely “right and good” and the other side as wholly “wrong and bad.” Our hearts are big enough to both honor our own viewpoints and to feel the suffering of those in opposition to us.

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The Power of Community: Embracing Interdependence at Turning Point School

In our diverse community, each member brings their own complex histories, identities, and experiences to common experiences: we all enjoy celebrations and endure sorrows, and we all want to be seen and valued. At Turning Point, we celebrate our diversity and strive to create an environment where everyone can belong. This includes caring for each other in community by inviting new families to join events, reaching out to those who are grieving, listening closely to others to hear and honor their stories—not even when but especially when their experiences diverge from our own.

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Connecting Deeply Through Reading

Reasoning, thinking critically, communicating clearly, and cultivating empathy are all predicated on developing sustained attention. When our attention splinters, the way our brains are shaped to think about the world noticeably changes. While thinking quickly in critical moments is a survival technique, it is not a tool we want our children to use daily as they navigate through life. If we wish to educate and equip our children to meet the unknown with the best tools available, we must cultivate strategies that can enhance our attention and ability to think deeply.

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Navigating a Path to Joy

As the Winter Solstice approaches and we look to ways we can be the light in a dark world, I’m encouraged by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ reflection on optimism versus hope: “Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief that, together, we can make the world better. Optimism is a passive virtue, hope an active one. It needs no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to hope.”

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Nurturing an “Illuminator” Mindset

When our students graduate and matriculate into ninth grade, we hear regularly that they are valued citizens in their new schools, they advocate for themselves and others, they know themselves and confidently share their opinions, they actively participate in class discussions, and they spearhead new clubs and initiatives. In other words, they carry with them an "illuminator mindset."

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Holocaust Remembrance

I can think of no more fitting way to honor Holocaust Remembrance Day than to be immersed in this intergenerational project, to hear about one family’s experience and the determination it has inspired for the next generation to make a difference in people’s lives. I’m humbled by the power one family, even one person, can have to create a beacon of light that attracts others to actively resist what Elie Wiesel calls the “glorification of base, ugly, dark violence.”

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The Purpose of Education: A Laboratory of Care and Wonder

I continue to be guided by the central question: How do we continue to build a learning environment where children can thrive? Every answer highlights the giving of care, which makes sense because we are wired for care. As we know and recently have seen first-hand, none of us would exist without our fellow humans' basic ability to care for one another and help each other survive. A grand web of interconnectedness exists; being connected to one another means each of us has an indelible impact. Paradox is present: we are both only one of innumerable people, and everything we do matters. I had Turning Point’s mission statement firmly in mind this morning when welcoming our students back to school, with music and a rainbow arch in our school colors, and with a very special performance from our newly-formed Cheer Squad!

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