February 3, 2017
Greetings from Chatham HallI hope this correspondence finds you well. It’s the midpoint in our school year and what a glorious few months we have had. Academic and athletic successes have been plentiful. We’ve seen students perform well on national exams and in robotics competitions. In fact, the Tutu Turtles Robotics Team won their December meet and took home a special leadership award. We have also seen students recognized by colleges with early decision offers of admission. While the destinations of our seniors will not be solidified until spring, we are off to a terrific start. I continue to be in awe of the creative talents of our students. In the fall the community was treated to incredible live performances. The October dance recital was eerily beautiful as audience members proceeded through a sophisticated haunted house of movement performance. Interestingly, our fall play also evoked ghosts, but was far more humorous in nature. Blithe Spirit was a smashing success. Aligned with spirit, the Christmas Season was filled with joyful traditions. In addition to the many activities on campus, St. Mary’s Choir members shared their beautiful voices on the courthouse steps as part of the celebration of Christmas in the town. We also see student strengths shared with the community at large. Being a good neighbor is not just something that is nice to do, it is a responsibility. In empowering girls to better the world, we must also empower them to make a difference locally. Each week we offer activities where students can support others. These have included visiting senior citizens, hosting a blood drive, working with children, environmental clean up, preparing food boxes for crisis centers, and everything in-between. Recently Chatham Hall was named “Mentor of the Month” by the Chatham chapter of the Boys and Girls Club. Making a difference was the theme of Leader in Residence Reshma Saujani’s keynote address to our community. Saujani, founder of the grassroots organization Girls Who Code, spoke to her experience of identifying a problem, the small number of women in the technology and programing industries. She shared her process in solving this by establishing opportunities for girls to learn coding and to teach their skills to others. Saujani’s message was one of salience for our students. She reinforced the concept “you can’t be what you can’t see” advocating for the importance of cultivating role models. Saujani illustrated resilience and how opportunity emerges even in failure. Her message was exhilarating.