THE BRIDGE
From the Headmaster Greetings, “Welcome to the 97th school cycle of Severn School.” On August 26, 2010, I addressed the collective school community at our opening convocation beginning with this simple, yet significant, welcome. In the ninety-seven years since Roland Teel founded Severn School, it has appropriately adapted and thus, has consistently prepared students to meet the world in which they will live and work with the skills, habits and attitudes to be successful. Over the past year, the school’s academic leaders have worked to identify through surveys, shared readings, and conversations with other schools the key areas of vital importance for success in the 21st Century. Six categories emerged as a vital and purposeful blend of timeless values and timely experiences; as such, they recognize and honor qualities that have long been a part of Severn and will be held in the highest regard in the present and the future: Scholarship, Character, Leadership and Ethics, Communication, Critical Thinking and Creativity. While all six are equally important, a scan of the complex problems in the world today – like the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster or the world’s economic downturn – it is evident that these complicated problems demand creative, novel solutions - not standardized solutions. Why then is the American education system seemingly obsessed with standardized tests as a way of measuring outcomes? No problem that I am aware of was ever solved by one’s ability to fill in a bubble accurately. Please know, I’m not suggesting that we dismiss the need for a solid base of knowledge or have finely tuned skills in specific subject areas. On the contrary, class content in Science, English, History, Math, Languages, and Arts and writing skills, computational skills, research skills, drafting skills, and the like are the foundation from which creative, novel ideas and strategies emerge. But like academic skills, creativity must be exercised for one to use it effectively. The following are excerpts from my convocation remarks about the importance of fostering creativity in today’s students. American education systems today are obsessed with destination and are excessively focused on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. For a long time, there has been a push to get as many students as possible into college with the hope that the higher education system would somehow fix the many shortcomings with which the students arrive on college campuses. These students, in many instances, have performed well on standardized assessments, but they lack
the habits and attitudes and the passion for learning that are emblematic of good students and, therefore, find themselves wholly unprepared for success in college. Recent statistics show that while the United States was once the world’s leader in the percentage of young people - between the ages of 25 to 34 - with college degrees, US has fallen to 12th among 36 developed nations. A well educated population is crucially important if the United Sates is to succeed in an increasingly competitive global environment, and your generation, more specifically you, will be asked to address some of the most important social, political, and scientific questions of our time. The solutions to these complex problems will require more than being a high performer; one will also have to be to be good student - a student that is creative, persistent, and passionate about learning for learning’s sake. In a recent Newsweek article, a poll of 1,500 CEO’s identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future and defined creativity as “the production of something original or useful.” The article also states that sine 1990 creativity scores for American youth have declined quite dramatically while IQ scores have continued to rise. It goes on to say that “it is too early to determine conclusively why U.S. creativity scores are declining. [But] one likely culprit is the number of hours kids now spend in front of the TV and playing videogames rather than engaging in creative activities. Another is the lack of creativity development in our schools.” Your education here at Severn is not standardized, not homogenized; it is unique. It is uniquely designed to give you a distinct advantage as you move on to college and into your life’s work. Being a student is not just an institutional role one plays – getting good grades, attending class, dutifully completing one’s homework – but a way of conceiving a life, and only by acquiring the full spectrum of characteristics that define a good student, will you be able to adjust and adapt to today’s rapidly-changing world. Creativity, persistence or grit, and passion, these are the hallmarks of a good student. Severn has been and will remain dedicated to providing an academic experience that provides ample opportunities for students to employ creativity throughout the curriculum. This edition of The Bridge chronicles only some of the many ways in which this vibrant community does so. As always, please share with me any thoughts or comments (d.lagarde@severnschool.com). Go Admirals,
Doug Lagarde 4