a radical: back to the roots

in a head of school

what do I want in a head of school?

I want a radical:

a leader who will be there with us

back at the roots of what a Quaker school should be,

to feel and act upon George Fox’s charge

to “walk cheerfully” and to respond to

that of God within each student, within each staff,

and thus find space to transform the world

with the power of each individual witness 

to what can and should be,

and the community that holds each individual

and builds a whole far beyond the sum of the parts.

to concentrate, to focus, on each individual learner

and on how a school can transform itself

to be there, most effectively,

to help each and every student

break free from any shackles

that deny the power within

that strains to release itself,

a student’s relationship with the world,

with the teacher as mentor,

with the self within and the self without,

as sacred as anything that I can imagine,

a school at its best works hard to get back to the roots

for only then can the child grow high and reach

for the light without that calls to the light within.

by Henry H. Walker

September 12, ‘16