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Dear Keystonians,  

I hope this has been a good week for you. This week began the “beginning of the end” for our 12th grade students. Although most of our students have more than two and a half months of school left, 12th graders are beginning their reading period for their IBDP exams which will happen next month prior to their graduation on May 18th. This is an exciting time for them. And it is the time of year when we prepare to say goodbye to them. On Thursday evening, the class of 2024 gathered in the Big Gym for their Character and Community Exhibition. The conversations I had with the students were very memorable. Not only were they eloquent in their communication of their journey at Keystone, but they were also earnest in seeing how far they had come and humble about how far they have to go.

One student reflected on his participation in a school event over four different years, from an eager 9th grader trying to find his voice, place, and sense of belonging at the school, through the 10th and 11th-grade years as a student leader to a 12th grader who had handed off his leadership to the next generation. The 12th grader described tears flowing down his face at the conclusion of the student-led event earlier this semester. "When I watched my schoolmates sparkle, I knew I was now an ancestor."

(There is nothing to make you feel old like a high school senior recognizing that he has become an ancestor. )

Mark Gonzales is a poet and author of Yo Soy Muslim, a beautiful children’s book that celebrates multicultural identities. The book is a letter to his daughter, encouraging her to embrace confidence in her ancestors, in all that has led up to her life, and all that she will do for those who come after her.

“Dear little one, [...] know you are wondrous. A child of crescent moons, a builder of mosques, a descendant of brilliance, an ancestor in training.”  

Education is often described as preparing children for their futures. A higher bar is to know that our work in schools is to build ancestors that children of the future will look up to; to nurture people who will be the ones who made things possible for those who come after them.

The student I was talking to had watched his schoolmates take over this successful student-led event, and he knew it would continue to be a successful event long after he was gone. As he reflected, his heart swelled with pride, not for his accomplishment but for theirs. As he shared, I grasped my own heart, hoping it wouldn’t explode out of my chest right there on the gym floor.

To this young person, and to every other 12th grader illuminating their beautiful stories of growth and learning last night, we are so proud of you. If we can be a school that creates ancestors worthy of the investment we have made in them, devoted to the success of others, we are successful. This is our job, to train the wise ancestors for our fragile earth.

Wishing you all a peaceful weekend.  

With love,  

EM