It’s Tuesday night, late, and tomorrow is our last day before Winter Vacation. We had our Winter Performance debut this evening and it was a smashing success. What made this night so special was the fact that the entire evening about about kids and for kids. Our educational philosophy as a community was encapsulated in this evening. The students organized the whole event, they cooked and served the food, designed the programs, sold the tickets, performed, washed the dishes, mopped the floors and decorated the auditorium. The entire evening celebrated and focused on students and was run by students. It was truly amazing. The success of this evening and the “high” experienced after such an event, in addition to a couple of other things that have happened this week, has put me in a reflective mood. I posted an entry in August titled “A New Beginning” and then went “off-line” for a few months. Now it’s time to begin writing again.

Before I begin, I want to say that HIS is truly a remarkable place. I’m proud of what we have accomplished so quickly and have never been a part of an institution such as this. Everybody is talking about a “Whole Child” education, we are doing it. I was speaking with a parent this evening who, in tears, commented to this effect. HIS, she said, focuses on the good in each child and brings that good out. Therefore, each child can and will succeed if schools are small enough and take and create the time to find that good in each student. We are not bound by the traditional “boundaries” that most schools create for themselves. We are free to create and make a place where each child can and will succeed.

The most powerful lesson I have learned over the past few months is to Persevere! I don’t know how many times I have been told that this couldn’t be done. What we are creating couldn’t be done. The culture and parents wouldn’t accept it. I didn’t have enough experience. Actually, I didn’t have any experience. We weren’t tough enough. What about AP’s and IB’s? You can’t teach with laptops! Macs will never work in Taiwan! You can’t admit this student, he’s been expelled. Many times I have felt like a football player running through the middle of a line of blockers with each one taking their shot and trying to knock me down. Some shots have hurt worse than others and I’ve been temporarily stunned, but Persevere. Get up and keep moving forward. Whenever you try something new, something that may have never been done, you will always get the naysayers. Actually, the more bold and different you try and be the stronger the opposition. Persevere. If it’s good for kids, it’s good! Stick with it.

We’ve all been working with kids for a long time. We all have been reading the journals. We all know in our guts that education has got to change. This does not mean following some formula of schooling that has been done before. This means being bold. Trying something new, different and scary and sticking with it. We will change education one school at a time We will get knocked down. We will get up. Persevere.