CFS over time

the more things change. . .

plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose:

the more things change, the more they remain the same,

doubts:

when money appeared for the gym, and the land for it,

my own son, Aaron, despaired at the change,

for sports were not the gate for his talents then,

when pavement replaced dirt and gravel,

some former students despaired that Friends School lost itself,

when the middle school decided to build interior walls,

I appreciated the gains and still mourned the losses:

as focus in classrooms became easier,

openness to the whole became harder,

through it all, I have been there,

as staff have come and gone,

as students have come and gone,

yet the school is still much the same place

which drew me so many years ago,

a place that nurtures and supports the best we can be,

that lives the faith that that of God lives in each of us,

and woe be unto any who seek to deny

the awesome inherent in every child,

our big middle school musical this year was Oliver:

27 middle schoolers, 30 lower schoolers, 1 early schooler,

and, once again, student after student surprised themselves

with a burst of brilliance revealed to all,

when the way opens for a new performing arts center,

our productions can be more readily shared with a larger community,

and, as with the new science labs in middle school,

the way to brilliance can be easier as to logistics,

there is a radical premise to CFS--

that truth is continually revealed and should be acted on,

and that it needs freshening all the time so we don’t lose our way,

but, rest assured, plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose,

as best as I can tell, the CFS you knew still lives.

by Henry H. Walker

April 8, ’14