York Preparatory School - NYC

June 12th was a very big day in the life of the Stewart family. We acquired a puppy.

Lest you think this really is no big deal, I should say that neither my wife nor I had been without a pet since we became conscious beings. We have had dogs, cats, horses, cows, snakes, gerbils, chinchillas (which our daughters bred for a profit of $15 per, no less), hedgehogs (adorable!), rabbit, fish and tropical tank stuff (it is all alive, if you know what I mean), ferrets (five), and a monkey. It was not an accident of life that our son became a veterinarian. Most families need one child to become a doctor to look after them; in our family we felt that a vet would be more valuable.

Our dog of fifteen and cat of twenty passed away at the beginning of the year. I miss them still. As older New Yorkers, we grieved and then made some comments to each other and our friends that without pets, our lives would be freer and we could travel without the guilt we felt when we left them at home (albeit with an army of feeders, walkers, and caretakers). Our knowledgeable friends said it was just a question of time. They knew far better than we did that six months without a pet was an eternity for us. No one was surprised when Jayme announced we were getting a puppy. The only side betting had been on whether it would be a dog or a cat, with dogs heavily favored by the cognoscenti.

A month before the puppy arrived, Jayme started reading every book written in English on puppy training. I only say “written in English” because the Germans have a slightly different approach to the subject (more authoritarian, you will not be surprised to learn) and, fortunately for the puppy, Jayme doesn’t read German. Nonetheless, armed with her information, we took our daughter and son-in-law (you know him as our school principal, Chris Durnford) to Petco to buy the necessary “essentials” before the puppy came.

If you have ever been to a Petco, you will know that slightly awed experience one feels when one walks into a single purpose store (pet products) so vast, with so many products for sale, that you feel as though the pet business has quietly become the major factor in our Gross Domestic Product. There are rows and rows of different pet foods. Four rows for dogs, three for cats, and four for assorted other animals. And there are many different products, particularly foods, for puppies, small dogs, medium dogs, and older dogs—each one claiming to be recommended by veterinarians, to be scientifically based, and to be very tasty. I wondered how the vets knew that last quality. Who tastes for a dog or cat? There is dry food and wet food, food in bags and food in cans. Then there are rows of bowls in which you feed the aforementioned food. And water dispensers that Rube Goldberg (that was for the older readers) must have thought up.

The Petco we went to covered several acres (at least it seemed to me at the time). They have an interesting marketing theory. There are no salespeople. You have to choose the products by yourself and then take your over-laden carts to the check-out stands where lines of other people are waiting to check out their over-laden carts. I think Petco has a policy of one employee per acre of selling space. They must make a fortune. Why did my son go into the veterinarian business? Selling pet stuff is surely easier and more profitable than treating pets. He went to fancy schools (I have the bills to prove it), and all he sells are immunizations. But I digress.

Jayme came with a list. (Anyone who has had the privilege of working with her in college guidance knows that she is the most organized person there is). But even her list was not very specific. Apparently you “crate train” a puppy nowadays. But which crate? There are more options than types of donuts at Dunkin Donuts. Actually, there are more options in every category of purchase than types of donuts and, as I mentioned, no one to suggest or help.

Chris found a clicker. This wonderful metal device makes, you may have guessed, a clicking noise. I was quite irritated that he found it first because I wanted to click it and he (in my opinion) hogged it. He went all over the store (and that means something, if you were in that store) clicking happily away, something I would have been equally interested in doing. I was thinking of getting another clicker so that I could compete, but I knew that my wife and daughter would have looked at each other and mentioned the phrase that women do at such times: “Men and their toys!” So I refrained.

I contributed to the entire affair by coming up with items that I had never seen before in my life. I never knew the ways you could hide food from a dog so that it would have to figure out how to eat from the object. You inject (I am not kidding) the food paste into a hollow “thing” (it could be a stone, a book, a small clockwork mouse) and then the animal has to figure out how to get the paste out. I found dog tutus that would make prima ballerinas proud, overalls that looked as though they came straight from the Amish country (assuming that the Amish weighed twenty pounds and had four legs), and raincoats far smarter than my 30-year-old Burberry. None of my suggestions of purchase were taken seriously by the ladies. They seemed to have lost their sense of humor in their discussion whether you needed a soft carrier or a hard carrier, and whether the super-saver-size miracle organic odor remover was worth buying by the five-gallon size.

A great deal of discussion between my wife and daughter (the serious ones, as I shall now refer to them) was about waste product from the puppy. There is a lot of money to be made on urine. I never knew. Even more on solid product, but young people may be reading this piece and I do not want to offend their sensibilities (as Jane Austen would say). Needless to say, we are now well covered in all areas of excretion.

At the end of the expedition, it was time for us to gather together. This is not so easy in a giant store where the aisles act like barriers in a very complicated maze. Chris was the easiest to find because he was still happily clicking away, but I understand there was some concern that I was lost to the group. Of course, I knew where I was; I was in the area that catered to guinea pigs (I like to watch them train for their marathons), but apparently this was not the mission of the day and no one thought to look for me in the guinea pig section.

Gathering up our purchases, I wish I could use that time honored cliché: tired but happy. However, when presented with the bill, I could only think of the fact that the cheapest thing about getting a puppy (by far) is the cost of the puppy itself.

We are about to pick up the puppy and Jayme has a list of puppy-friendly restaurants, camps, (puppy camp?), airlines, veterinarians divided by specialties, and stores. Soon we will have a puppy trainer, acupuncturist, chiropodist, groomer, walker, and psychiatrist.

As I said, June 12th was a big day for the Stewarts.

Ronald P. Stewart, Headmaster
E-mail: rstewart@yorkprep.org

6/1/2010

It is now a five year tradition that, instead of my usual “Thoughts” for June, I write out my speech at graduation. This year’s graduation was truly a joyous affair, with brilliant speeches by both students and faculty members and a hilarious and yet sensitive speech by Andy Borowitz, our graduation speaker and the creator of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. None who attended the graduation will forget it. In that context, my speech is rather lame, but somehow it did not detract from the wonderful, affectionate spirit of the occasion.

Graduation Speech – May 26, 2010

Before we give out the diplomas, I also want to congratulate the graduating Class of 2010. You are, as you have heard, a great class, and I thank you for all your work on behalf of the school community.

You now have the pleasure of being a source of pride for your parents and family who are here with you. This is a very happy occasion, and while we faculty nostalgically reflect backwards on how much we have enjoyed teaching you, in turn you should reflect forward on your futures, glorious as we are confident they will be.

More immediately, I want to wish you every success at college. It must be somewhat strange now, with your high school class around you for the last time, to think that in just over three months you will all be in a new environment of greater freedoms and responsibilities than you have ever had, and with a whole new set of peers to befriend and to work with.

Three months is a long way away. It is such a long time that you can easily fall out of practice of achieving deadlines in your writing and reading. Time and again, I have heard from graduates that they sort of went into mild shock when they arrived at college and realized how much work was expected. After a fun summer, there is an adjustment period to get back into the practice of studying regularly. So, my suggestion is that—no matter what you do this coming summer, whatever wonderful plans you have, and I hope that they are wonderful—you stay reading and, if possible, keep an analytical journal of what you are reading.

(You could always write a blog as I do in my “Headmaster’s Thoughts.” The fact that no one except you will read them is not really important. It doesn’t stop me from writing mine. The New York Times this morning stated that 175,000 new blogs are started every day.)

My point is that you really don’t want to lose the practice of academic study. If you are truly diligent, you might find out what is on the reading list of your first term at college and get a head start by reading those books over the summer. Personally, I had a much longer time between institutions than you because I left my high school in December when I got into college (we don’t have high school graduations in England) and didn’t go up to Oxford until September. In fact, I lived in Paris in what was optimistically called “a hotel” in a very seedy area. I well remember the shock of what then seemed a huge reading list which was literally thrust in my hand when I arrived at my college, and the expectation of two essays within days. I struggled, as I think my peers did, to get back into that routine of focusing on academics before everything else.

Well, that’s it on advice. You have received a great deal from others already. I was going to advise you against plagiarism, but I realized that I had read that somewhere else; and I was going to talk about the dangers of procrastination, but I just never got around to it.

Personally, I have enjoyed teaching all of you. We zipped through ethical philosophy pretty quickly and most of you stayed awake, for which I am grateful. It certainly went quickly for me. I know from studies that your brain evolves to 90% of its size in the first five years of life, when I think a year is actually about 30 months for the baby. I know from all the studies that a person is the brightest and most fertile when they are about 18. Wait a moment… are not most of you 18? You may be the brightest and most fertile now. This may be the very day, today, when you hit the height of your powers. As someone who doesn’t text, I do, however, know the acronym OMG.

Certainly, I believe that high school years are the most formative of your life. You pass beyond the tumult of adolescence and are in (as they would say about eggs, caterpillars, pupae, and butterflies) your “young adult phase.” May you have a long and glorious “young adult phase”! A year for you takes about 12 months. Later on, you get to the “late adult phase,” which I am in, when a year takes about three months as it rushes by. And maybe some time in your young or middle adult phase, you may well have caterpillars of your own, which we hope you will consider sending to York Prep.

So let me congratulate you again. We will indeed miss you and wish for all of you every success. We look forward to seeing you many times to talk of your achievements in the coming years.

Ronald P. Stewart, Headmaster
E-mail: rstewart@yorkprep.org

June 3rd 2010

New beekeeping efforts launched at York Prep by Principal Chris Durnford in partnership with Andrew Cote and the New York City Beekeepers Association.

Hardly had the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene lifted the beekeeping ban in New York City, when five packages–each with 10,000 bees and a queen—arrived at York Prep to their future home on the school’s roof.

Seniors Jake Klarberg and Lucas Tatarsky (Student Government Organization president and vice president, respectively), together with Sam Gilman-Harts, Leah Mark, John Diamond, and Erin Mackey—the main student proponents for a “greening the roof” project—welcomed the bees on April 30 and helped assemble the hives.

To provide a more natural environment, York Prep students created a rooftop garden. The 7th grade Life Science classes planted seeds which were transplanted into garden beds made by the 11th grade Environmental Science classes. The Community Service, Environmental, and Gardening Clubs also pitched in.

Principal Chris Durnford has long been interested in apiculture. “Worldwide honeybee populations are struggling,” said Mr. Durnford. “Increased pesticide use, pollution, disease, and habitat destruction are taking their toll. We want to do our part to help the environment and, as we looked at various ‘green’ options for our roof, the bee hives offered an interesting and dynamic initiative for our students. The hives are interactive; the students can be involved in their care and upkeep; we have the opportunity to work with Andrew Cote, one of the foremost bee experts in the city; and we get to make honey.”

Andrew Cote is president of the New York City Bee Keepers Association, which promotes safe apiculture in New York City. Mr. Cote has traveled to Africa and the Middle East establishing hives and restoring apiaries in war torn countries in his role as a founder of Bees Without Borders.

After attending one of Mr. Cote’s lectures on urban beekeeping in April, Mr. Durnford was convinced that York would be a great location for hives. “Our proximity to Central Park and our low sheltered roof make the perfect location for bees,” said Mr. Durnford. Mr. Cote was equally excited about the prospect of locating hives near the park. The bees will play an important part in pollinating the plants and flowers in the neighborhood and will travel all over the city looking for pollen.

As York Prep’s beekeeper, Mr. Cote works with the school’s hives and teaches students (and faculty) the fundamentals of apiculture and the importance of bees to the horticulture and quality of the environment in the City.

The bees will produce honey—an estimated 500 pounds this fall—which will be shared with the York Prep community. In addition, the school hopes to use the honey to raise money for the scholarship fund.

The school did a check for students with bee allergies and found that none of the students have a severe hypersensitivity reaction to bees. Some students displayed concern when informed there would be a hundred thousand bees atop 40 West 68th Street. “The students are more scared by the idea of the bees than they are of the actual insects; once they get up on the roof and see how passive and easygoing the bees are, they get over their fear immediately,” said Mr. Durnford. “The more they learn about them, the more they realize how amazing the bees really are.”
About York Prep School. A private coeducational and independent college preparatory day school offering a traditional curriculum for grades 6-12 with a challenging yet supportive atmosphere enhanced by the diversity of New York City. York Prep School is one of Manhattan’s top private schools encouraging diversity and academic achievement in a supportive private school environment. More information can be found at www.yorkprep.org.

I hear a lot of concerns from parents about computers and how their usage affects their children. They see their children retreat into an isolated world that allows them only to engage themselves and to shut off social interaction with family members. They see an absorption and a distraction that distances child from parent, particularly in the form of fantasy games and abbreviated coded messages (OMG, etc.) between adolescents. The traditional values of an education-oriented family seem to be at odds with this new technology.

I am reminded of Plato quoting Socrates in Phaedrus. (As Yogi Berra so eloquently put it, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”) I know this reference sounds obscure, but bear with me on this one. Plato tells us that Socrates specifically talks about a new invention by Thoth, an ancient god who invented—among other things—numbers, astronomy, and dice.  I like the dice bit.

So Thoth comes to Thamus, the King of Egypt, and says, “I have got a winner.” (Now I sound like Mel Brooks’ “Two Thousand Year Old Man”).  “I’ve got a new item, a hot commodity, a sure fire hit; I call it WRITING.”

And Thamus asks Thoth (I think Socrates had a lisp), “What does it do?”

And Thoth replies that “writing” will make people wiser and be able to permanently preserve their memories. “You can write down stuff and the stuff will be remembered.” (I have taken a little poetic license with Socrates’ words here.)

Anyway, Thamus, cautious king that he is, strongly rejects the new technology of writing and offers numerous reasons justifying his determination. He argues that writing will, in fact, produce forgetfulness because no one will need to remember events in their head when they can look them up on paper.  And as for wisdom, instead of getting information from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, i.e. a real observer, you could get it from a second-hand source who may not have witnessed anything; the oral tradition will be destroyed. Furthermore, this new invention will do away with the need for the guiding hand of teachers because students can (perish the thought) look things up for themselves; it will lead to rote-learning without real understanding.  And the social bonds among the family will disappear as children go off and read all by themselves; they can get too absorbed in long pieces of writing called “books.”  And, worst of all, some people may believe that, because something is written, therefore it is the truth.

It is, by the way, obvious that Socrates is in Thamus’ corner and agrees with his argument.  Since Socrates made his living by teaching orally to his students and never wrote a word himself, one can see that, from a business perspective, he has every right to regret the invention of writing.

Of course, the “déjà vu” comes in hearing, in Thamus’ words, some of the current concerns and arguments against computers and their impact on our social and intellectual lives.  All of this proves to me that there are positives and negatives with all progress in technology. One cannot imagine our world without the written word.  It is inconceivable that we would have our way of life without writing, and, like most people, I do get joyfully absorbed in reading books.  I WRITE these “Thoughts” every month, which may reveal just a few of my feelings about the subject.  Writing is the greatest communicative tool that enables us to learn from past and present generations.

So perhaps you might remember Thamus and Thoth when computer technology worries you in how it affects your child.  I share the concern, partly out of pure insecurity because I was an adult before computers came on the market, and so I bridge a pre-computer and post-computer world. My generation will soon die out, leaving our children who have lived entirely in the post-computer world. Our children intuitively accept computers as a positive technology that will continue to redefine their world. Computers are still evolving, and their increasing presence does not worry our students in the least.  It worries me because I have no idea where the technology will lead.  I worry about abusive sites for children, pornography, graphic violent games, and all. And there are times when faced with my inadequate ability to manipulate my computer, cell phone, GPS, etc., I feel confused and strangely disconnected from the young people who effortlessly show me how to make the machine work successfully. How do they know so much?

But in my heart of hearts I know that just as there are enormous benefits in “writing,” so there are enormous benefits in the new technology of computers. The fact that I have not yet fully come to terms with the major changes that have occurred in my lifetime is my problem. I feel a bit like Thamus, an “ancient” who is resistant to new technology, although I have no doubt that Thamus was completely in the wrong.

Of course you do not have to buy Phaedrus to read the story of the discovery of writing. Don’t bother to actually get the book; it is long and, at times, tedious. Just go to Google, input “Thoth/Thamus,” and the search engine will produce many versions of Plato’s description of the myth, with comments by distinguished authors and associated writings. One thousand eight hundred and eighty (1,880) references.  That, in itself, frightens me.

Ronald P. Stewart, Headmaster
E-mail: rstewart@yorkprep.org

Under the rubric Tech Tuesdays: Parenting in the Digital Age, York Prep Technology Coordinator Alicia Weschler designed a curriculum for parents to improve their knowledge of the cyberworld their children inhabit. These informational meetings tackled important issues confronting teens which impact their safety, education, effectiveness, and emotional well-being.

“We find that almost every student is engaged in some form of social network, but many parents are not entirely informed of the impact these websites have on their children and the consequences of participation,” said Principal Chris Durnford. “We wanted to show parents how this technology affects our students and to share with them guidelines and recommendations for prudent and productive Internet use.”

The series kicked off in October with the session “Social Networks: Friends or Foes?” After a look at how today’s new media and technology environment is so different from what’s come before, Mrs. Weschler guided parents through social networks—Facebook, MySpace, Twitter—and examined the short-and long-term benefits and dangers of membership. Parents discussed and shared tips on how to keep their children safe.

Attendees explored how to mine Google’s search engine more fully during “Google Tips and Tricks” in November. Following a brief explanation of how search engines work and how Google comes up with such relevant and thorough search results, audience members were made aware of numerous special features, sometimes hidden, which are extremely practical and enhance the online search experience.

The April gathering on “Cyberbullying” provided facts, cases, resources, and strategies to help parents recognize the forms and warning signs of electronic abuse and to guide them in how to act in case their child becomes a victim—or perpetrator—of online cruelty. Mrs. Weschler spent time highlighting the differences between traditional bullying and cyberbullying and emphasized means of prevention.

A fourth offering in February, “Superparent to the Rescue: Troubleshooting 101,” was cancelled due to inclement weather. The meeting was set to focus on computer hardware advice, suggestion for moving files between home and school, and online reference resources; most likely, it will be scheduled for the next school year. The mother of a sixth grader “won’t miss” future sessions. “I’ve learned so much from the workshops,” she said.

Tuesday, April 13 - With the recent news stories about the challenges of Cyberbullying, York Prep will present a Technology session for parents on Cyberbullying, part of the Parent Workshop Series “Parenting in the Digital Age.”

A word about grandchildren; they start off very small. Difficult, I have noticed, to talk to. Our dogs and cats respond better to heated discussion.

I understand that with time, grandchildren grow bigger and eventually will change your diaper rather than you change theirs, but, when very young, they tend to have visceral rather than thoughtful reactions to most stimuli. I was discussing the new Daniel Silva novel with my two-year-old granddaughter (on my son’s side) and she seemed to be more interested in calling (a euphemism, if ever there was one) for her mother. My daughter-in-law was very kind and indicated that the dog needed to go for a walk.

Recently, we had all four granddaughters together for a week. It was at that time that I realized the value of aspirin taken in large doses. Since I have been involved with children all my life, this tendency to avoid the convergence of four children under three and me in one room without anyone else, worries me. I have tried to play the clown, which resulted in nervous screams from the children that both mothers put down to my insanity. I have tried food, which led to a mess on the carpet. I have tried to play dead, which resulted in having my hair and feet simultaneously pulled by little hands. In short, I am not good at this sort of thing.

So when does it change? When do these irrational monsters become intelligent humans? One thing I know is that animals get there quicker. Jayme and I are about to get a kitten. It will be ten weeks old. One will be able to converse with it on a reasonable level. It will not scream at me; in fact, it will appear as though it likes my company. I have had the privilege of being present at a number of births of horses. After less than one hour of life, a foal can run faster than I can and will allow you (if you are careful) to pet him or her. Try that with a one-hour-old baby!

We humans really are pathetic when we are born. Totally dependent on our mothers, we need everything except grandfathers. Mothers understand this, and there is nothing more like feeling like a bump on a log than to be around when one of your daughters (in-law or natural) is giving birth. You are sent hither and thither to get you somewhere else. Get the nurse! Get some water! Get a towel! It all means, “Get out of the way!”

I am not a frivolous man. I like to discuss philosophy. I like to discuss literature. I like to discuss. My granddaughters do not seem in any rush to have this discussion. They play with toys made by Fisher-Price. Now, there is a company who seems to understand granddaughters. I don’t get the appeal of little plastic figures with buttons that squeak when pressed. I, obviously, don’t squeak as appealingly when I am pressed.

We “skype” our children. If you have ever meaningfully skyped a child under three, you are a wiser person than yours truly. I make faces. I make silly sounds. I am a headmaster of a school and I am making faces and silly sounds. If you saw me skyping any one of my granddaughters you would not send your child to York Prep. You would say, “That man is an idiot. I will not trust my children with him.”  A YouTube video of that Skype time would go something like this:

Me, with two hands coming out of my ears by their thumbs: “Hallo, hallo, hallo!”

Granddaughter, wailing: “Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma!”

Daughter to child: “There, there! He doesn’t mean it.”  To me, “Let’s talk later by phone!”

End of Skype connection.

My senior ethics class would find it quite amusing.

Until my grandchildren (whom I irrationally adore with intense passion) grow up, I think I will take the dog for a walk.

Ronald P. Stewart, Headmaster
E-mail: rstewart@yorkprep.org

Poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan speaks to Grades 9-12

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Maria Mazziotti Gillan–award-winning poet, editor, teacher, cultural activist–will speak to Grades 9-12.

She will also conduct a Poetry Workshop with English 10 classes.

Wednesday, April 7 - Mr. Roper’s Parent History Class - 6:30-7:45 p.m. Topic: “The Grid and Its Beauty.”

As we approach graduation and the end of the school year, I wonder again why some students become so much more academically successful than others. What is it that creates the successful student?

I have been the headmaster here for 41 years, and so I look back at 40 valedictorians. What distinguished them? Certainly it was not just brains. We have had valedictorians who were not the smartest in their cohort. Indeed, you might be surprised to learn that some of those valedictorians did poorly on standardized tests and probably always will. Yet, these determined students found their way to triumph in high school and college. Gender did not seem a factor in their success; we have had roughly an equal number of boys and girls. It was not the affluence of their backgrounds; scholarship recipients have been well represented. Nor is it true that valedictorians only came from “intact” families. So what was it?

By the time students arrive in my Ethics class in their senior year, our faculty and administration have often accurately predicted the seniors who will do well at college and could probably guarantee those who will succeed wherever they go. How we arrive at these conclusions is what this piece is really about.

Let us start at the entry to York. A student enters into the school at 6th grade or later. At orientation, the first person who talks to them is me. I tell them of the stress that we place on character. I tell them of the rules of the school. And, most importantly, I tell them of the value of education. In truth, intellectually they already know the advantages of being well educated. They don’t really need me to stress that college graduates generally have richer, happier lives than high school drop-outs. On a conscious level, they are all aware that their parents have sent them to York to get a fine education. They know the long-term gains of being successful at school. But some seem to be able to translate this knowledge into action more than others.

From what I have observed in our students—and read about, particularly the famous Stanford University “Marshmallow Experiment” of the 60s—I think the key difference between success and lack of success is the particular ability to delay immediate gratification and instead to work towards the long-term prize of success. That means giving up the impulse to avoid study, the impulse to procrastinate, the impulse to be distracted by immediate pleasures, and instead to accept that study now means success later. This self-control seems consistently to lead to success with school work and good relations with members of the school faculty.

None of this appears to be an intellectual process. Every child recognizes and articulates that he or she should study. I have still to meet the child who argues against it. So the success factor is not something that can be determined by asking the student questions. Every student will pass that multi-choice test. The success factor seems to me far deeper than the conscious articulated argument. It is an emotional or sub-conscious understanding that controls the impulse of gratification.

I am thinking of particular students as I write this. Students who struggled and triumphed. Students with learning disabilities who now have doctorates. They all shared that emotional ability to control their impulses. While everyone in their class wanted success, and everyone wanted to enjoy themselves, they were the ones who sacrificed their “enjoyment” time for this future dream. They were able to listen and work even when they were not that interested in the subject. So the question is: Who instilled in them this impulse control? There must have been a real consequence-driven emotional framework built around them. And this understanding of consequences had to be continually re-enforced as they grew to adolescence.

I remember a friend of mine at Oxford. He was a brilliant American physicist and Rhodes Scholar. He had been an All-American football player and top of his college class. His first name was Joe. He told me once that there were three things one could do at high school and college: have a social life, have an athletic life, and have an intellectual life. And he had discovered early on that if he was going to be successful, he could only do well in two of those three things. So although he had close friends, Joe gave up on a great deal of his social life and focused first on academics and secondly on his football. He went on to an incredibly successful career and has a wonderful marriage with a wide range of friends and acquaintances. He had true impulse control as a very young man.

I have known others (I think I include myself here) who say that they were driven by a fear of failure. That is what kept them at their books when the playground tried to lure them away. But fear of failure assumes that sub-consciously you understand that there are consequences for leaving study for play. In other words, these students already had accepted that long-term effort will have a reward in the future. If they did not have that understanding, their fear of failure would not have driven them forward.

Understanding consequences and controlling instant gratification are not difficult qualities to recognize in students. Hence my confidence in commenting that there are students who we are sure will succeed. Others will (happily) surprise us with their success. They will come to their epiphany later. Their valedictory moment will be after high school. Perhaps we will be more influential in their lives than those who come pre-programmed with the insight I have referred to.

It is certainly our task to make it very clear that success is earned through effort and that the rewards are positively life-changing. I try to stress this in my first talk to students when they arrive for orientation. I urge them to be their own best friend for the long run. Some do not need to hear me because they already know, and others will change in their time at York as we stress the realities of consequences. By the time of their graduation, the hope is that they have all understood the message so that they can go out and conquer the world.

Ronald P. Stewart, Headmaster
E-mail: rstewart@yorkprep.org