“Love many things, for therein lies true strength…”

Last week, New School Montessori students participated in our walkathon.  It was a beautiful day, and everyone (staff, students, parents) joined together to celebrate our community.  Our upper and lower elementary students cheered on our primary children as they did a final lap around our blooming campus.  The new trees we planted over the summer are budding, and all the spring blossoms are brightening up our grounds.

Everywhere I turn I see such inspiring examples of discovery and joyful learning.  Pictured here are kindergartners showing a mural of the Great Barrier Reef after having fallen in love with a book they read about it.  Their teachers marveled at the details the students remembered.

Here is an image showing our (9-12) students performing Romeo and Juliet for students across the city at Memorial Hall downtown.  Through this play, students strengthened friendships and hopefully deepened their empathy through the experience of metaphor and theater.  Oh, and memorized some of the greatest language ever written!
All of these examples show me again and again how lives expand and shrink depending on courage and the capacity to love many things.  “Love many things, for therein lies true strength, and whosoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish  much, and what is done in love is done well.” – Van Gogh.
A Montessori education is about taking risks in a caring environment.  It is about following a quiet voice inside, instead of a demanding one coming from some “authority figure.”  It is about slowly and patiently encouraging children to blossom into themselves.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anaïs Nin

Enjoy a weekend of renewal, rain, and gratitude.
With great joy,
Jeff

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