UNTOLDSTORIESOFDDS
LIFE & CULTURE
OUR NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL 1,2, 10, 11
AFAR SUMMER 2024
SPORTS
“BATTLING BACK FROM INJURY” BY ALEX HAPONIK
A GLIMPSE INTO THE MIND AND VISION OF OUR NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL, MR. ANDREW BISHOP
BY STEVE MCGILL
As Davidson Day School embarks on a new school year, we are being led
by a new Head of School, Mr. Andrew Bishop Bishop replaces interim Head of School Michael Smith, who is returning to his previous role as Head of Upper School Bishop comes to us from the Alexander Dawson School in Las Vegas, NV, where he worked over the past six years, serving as Assistant Head of School. In late August I had a chance to sit down with Mr. Bishop as he discussed his decision to accept the offer as our new Head of School, and the personal and professional journey that led him here It was an interview that felt more like a friendly conversation Bishop is charismatic and gregarious, but is also quite passionate when it comes to the work that he does. Gain a glimpse into his character and his vision for our school as you read the interview below:
Question: Mr Bishop, what are your initial impressions of Davidson Day after having been here for part of the
summer and now the beginning of the new school year? How’s the vibe feeling for you so far?
Andrew Bishop: For me, the vibe has not changed over the six weeks that I've been here, and the two weeks we've been in school The vibes remained the same from when I first touched down in November to when I came for interviews in December. The vibe remains constant. That's because I think my impression of Davidson Day has never changed And the impression is, at its core, the strength of our school and the strength of our community is all about the people who represent us as Davidson Day Patriots It is a highly relational school So no matter how we continue to evolve and mature, grow into different spaces, expand in other areas, I fully believe that what makes Davidson Day special in the core of who we are is not just focused on what we do; it's more about who
we're doing it alongside. And the people truly are the place And that speaks volumes about our culture
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Andrew Bishop, Head of School at Davidson Day School
CONTINUED A GLIMPSE INTO THE MIND AND VISION OF OUR NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL
Question: So when you first heard about the job, and you were living in Nevada, in a good position, what intrigued you to want to say, Hey, I wanna apply for this position on the other side of the country?
AB: I'm from the Northeast originally. There's something about the East which resonates more deeply with me than the West I love the West Everything out there is new There's a pioneering spirit to it How do you build something out of nothing? What I love about the East, whether that's Connecticut (where I'm from), Maine (where I've lived the most years of my life), to North Carolina, there's a deep history to the place, and part of the job is understanding how your history shapes your present and will help guide your future. So I think I always knew I wanted to come East because of how much here on the East we value education, we value history, we value arts. And it's about looking back before you look forward
Question: Was there anything specific about Davidson Day that piqued your interest?
AB: Yes, the schools that have meant the most to me that I've worked at or been a part of have all been schools that have their youngest learners who are anywhere between two and five years old. And then their oldest learners are high school students. I think the best educational environments are those that have a lower school and middle school and upper school So I was always looking for a pre-K - 12 opening in the East that I wanted to come to And for me it was also about timing I've got three kids; our oldest daughter, Carter, is in fifth grade now I knew at some point we needed to make a jump to a place and an environment where we knew it was gonna be cool for her to be smart. And cool for her to be nice. So when this job opened up, it was really about how do we find a place and a school that puts quality of life ahead of commodities? We wanted to be in a location that values family, a strong pace of life, but is still wedded to Right - to achieving excellencesocially, morally, athletically, academically, and all those areas So [Davidson Day] was a perfect storm
Question: So did you dive right in as soon as you saw the opening?
AB: No, actually, it took me a long time. I didn't submit my materials until the very last day they were due. I had this moment of, if I go forward with [pursuing] this [position], I
know I'm gonna like [the school], and I don't want to be disappointed if [the job] doesn't come my way And so, the timing was right. The position was right. And most importantly, the school was right for me. It has to be a good match. At the time, I wasn't actively looking for Head of School jobs. I mean, I knew that was gonna be my next job. That's been my goal since I was 17 years old And every month, over the past two years, whether it's search firms, or other boards of trustees, I’ve been receiving information with the advice, ‘Hey, you should take a look at this ’ And I was saying no to a lot of potential positions And this is the first one that I really said yes to, and kind of committed to, because it checked all the boxes for me
Question: So your family, what was their response when you were applying, and then you were one of the top three candidates, and then you were going across the country for inperson interviews? How were they feeling about the possibility of a new life?
AB: What I love about my family is we support each other's dreams and goals We also know that to support someone else's dreams and goals means you might have to sacrifice some of the things you love for someone
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Bishop alongside wife, Kyle, son Becket, and daughters Ryan and Carter
THE AFAR PROGRAM IN PORTUGAL, SUMMER 2024
BY ADA BROWN
Over the summer, the AFAR project, led by Davidson Day anthropology teacher Mr Mat Saunders, took flight to perform archeological excavations in Troia, Portugal, for the 5th time. Since 2018, the AFAR program has conducted field excavations and research in the ancient Roman city, and has consistently produced unique findings Unsurprisingly, the 2024 project was no different
The city of Troia, located about 45 minutes from Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, is a curious site Due to its location right on the coast, much of the ancient city is completely preserved under the sand that covers it, making for fascinating archeological research. As Saunders put it, “Troia is like the Pompeii of Portugal because it was abandoned and covered, so there’s stuff in the main part of the site that is probably perfectly preserved, and we’re dealing with the crappier parts because of erosion ” Interestingly, the first excavations ever done at the site of Troia were conducted in the 18th century by future Queen D Maria I Years later, in the middle of the 20th century, more excavations were performed by today’s National Museum of Archeology, but still at a small level. “It wasn’t until the late 90’s or early 2000’s,” Saunders said, “that Inesh [the current director of Archeology in Troia] became the site director and started doing work They were already doing work before AFAR, but not on the large scale They were using smaller groups I think the average group size was five or six people that would work but it wasn’t a formal field school like we have ”
This big question going into the 2024 season of excavations in Portugal was of continuing to understand the harbor/port of the ancient city. In Mr. Saunders’ words, “In 2023…we started focusing on the harbor at Troia, and we said that one of the most important things that would lead us to a better understanding of the site was to see where traffic was coming in and out It was one of the most endangered sections because of coastal erosion, so we felt an urgency to investigate as much as we could ” Answering this question was of key importance because understanding the path of traffic in and out of this city could lead to the discovery of other important research questions. At the end of the twoweek project, an incredible amount of progress was made to help answer this question. SEE NEXT PAGE
Nick Starnes, Class of 2026, on-site with AFAR in Portugal
CONTINUED THE AFAR PROGRAM IN PORTUGAL
“Even though there were exciting pieces,” said Saunders, “the most important thing is the architecture we found. Getting a firm understanding of the construction of the city itself is really the most valuable, so there’s no question that finding the extreme limits of the harbor was super important.”
The AFAR program provides a unique experience for students at Davidson day because it is the only program in the country that allows high school students to conduct archeological research at the professional level Excavations at AFAR projects, including Portugal, are largely student-led. Each of the four units within the site faced its own unique objectives and goals, and all of them had student leaders as well as professional archeologists supervising and guiding the students. Senior Lily Bryan participated in the 2024 Portugal project as the head of her unit, sector 20, tasked with managing day to day excavations and leading her team She went on the Spain project during the summer of 2023 and quickly gained lots of experience, allowing her to become a unit leader this past summer She said, “I was trying to make sure we were always moving forward and being productive to the goal every day, and working quickly enough to avoid the tides.” Bryan’s group was tasked with the most frustrating part of the site; since it was located very close to the water on the sand, it was filled in by the tides each day. But this did not keep them from achieving their goals “We found the oil lamp, some coins, some pieces of bronze, and some ancient glass,” Bryan said “The goal was to expose the wall, and to see if it continued all the way down to where we thought it did, and it did!”
Another unit on the shore, sector 19, was tasked with cleaning and discovering the area thought to be a port for the ancient city. This group had the responsibility of meticulously exposing new floor layers to determine the function and age of each layer. “Everybody did a little of everything,” said junior Nick Starnes “A lot of times we dumped sand, other times it was mapping the site or taking measurements, as well as clearing out the site, which was the entrance of the port ” Starns also participated in the Spain project in 2023, and traveled to Belize with Mr Saunders that same summer, while not directly partaking in the AFAR project “We had to go layer by layer and measure each time we went down a few centimeters, and it was exhausting,” said Starns, “but we got to reach the floor, and we found a bunch of artifacts before we had to leave.”
Chaperones, like Noel Freidline, directly above, supervise students and assist on dig sites.
THE AFAR PROGRAM IN BELIZE & SPAIN, SUMMER 2024
BY LORELEI ROBERTSON
Let me introduce to you the Belize and Spain AFAR projects! These projects consist of hard work and being away from home for 2-3 weeks, but the students and faculty members who took part say that these projects are worth the sacrifice Now let's dive a little deeper into the background and the experiences of the projects!
Belize, the longest running project, will be going into its 19th year in 2025. This project is the most physically demanding of all the AFAR projects The objective was to determine if there had been a way to access the Mayan ball court, where they were working, from the palace, which was about 100 feet above One group's assignment was to remove a large section of hillside. Once they had removed about 80 cubic meters of dirt, they uncovered a small cache of pottery fragments and a few other random pottery shards, though they weren't able to locate an access point The students and faculty who went on this trip this past summer all say that this project was their first and that they all fell in love with it DDS Director of Philanthropy Mr. Mark
Palmer discussed what he liked about the trip and why he decided to go:
“Since I started at Davidson Day five years ago, I've been fascinated by the AFAR program and its different projects The thought of high school students participating in high-value, on-site archeological research was mind-blowing, and I wanted to
Belize and Spain AFAR groups, 2024
CONTINUED THE AFAR PROGRAM IN BELIZE & SPAIN
see it in action. Additionally, experiencing first-hand the educational growth of our students is invaluable to the work I do for the school.” Palmer says that the Mayan archaeological research intrigued him the most, which led him to want to explore the ancient civilization sites of Southern Mexico.
Palmer said that the responsibilities as a chaperone included supervising the students throughout the day and assisting them with anything they needed, “whether we were at the dig site, in the hotel, or on an excursion ” On the dig site, he helped one of the excavation groups. His role was to do whatever would help the students focus on the research process. That's a “fancy” way of saying that he hauled a lot of wheelbarrows, sifted a great amount of dirt, and pick-axed big sections of hillside rubble.
Through this experience he learned that “archeology is hard work! While the Belize AFAR experience includes incredible excursions to various Mayan sites, the day-to-day excavations are no joke ” That intensity helped everyone to develop great bonds with each other, making the trip unforgettable As for the phenomenal archaeologists with whom the students and faculty worked, they demonstrated a remarkable ability to bring the ancient past to life and make the effort worthwhile. Having gone on this trip myself, I will always be grateful for the passion they brought to the project and their patience in teaching all of us
For senior Abby Stutts, this was her second time going on the Belize trip She had previously gone in 2022 She says that Belize was the place where she fell in love with archaeology and traveling, and that she wanted to visit one more time before she graduated. Her favorite excursion of the project was touring the cave of ATM (this was Mr. Palmer’s favorite part too). “This is because you get to learn the deep history of the Maya,” Stutts said, “and experience it firsthand by going into a place where they sacrificed people and spoke to the gods It is super interesting because the Maya believed they were created in a cave, so they would go back to caves as a way to communicate with the gods ” She loved seeing the different calcified artifacts, and staring up at the long stalagmites that the Maya once walked under as well. Additionally, the tour guide was very informative and funny, since he has known Mr. Saunders for so long.
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The Belize crew takes a break from the hard work
BATTLING BACK FROM INJURY
BY ALEX HAPONIK
One of the rising star athletes at Davidson Day is 11th grader Alex Haponik, who has been making a name for himself as a runner on both the cross country and track teams since his ninth grade year. Most recently, Alex set a new personal best time of 17:30 in a cross country race at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, which earned him a spot among
the top 20 runners in a very crowded field At the 2023 NCISAA Track & Field State Championship meet, Alex, as a freshman in his first year of running track, finished third in the 3200 meter run in a time of 10:26.25. On day two of the meet, he finished second in the 1600, in 4:47.13.
In August, Haponik wrote an essay for his English Composition class in which he provided details on his running journey, including battling back from multiple injuries after his outstanding freshman year The essay is below:
In July of 2023, the summer after my freshman year, I raced at Adidas Track Nationals in Greensboro, NC and broke a metatarsal bone in my foot, which prevented me from running for most of that summer. This was a very frustrating experience, as I had just been coming off a very successful first track season, but I couldn’t continue to build to what would’ve been an even more successful sophomore cross country season
Even though I had broken my metatarsal, I didn’t figure that out until August, so I still continued to do a significant amount of training on my broken foot After I found out my foot was broken, my cross country coach (Dave Hall) and I decided that the best course of action would be for me not to practice until later in the fall. By the time my metatarsal had healed a month later, I was fairly far behind most of my teammates. Adding to my frustration was the fact that I had initially been expected to be our best runner, but now I was closer to being our third or fourth runner
To make up for lost time, I decided to run on my own in addition to running at practice I ran the extra miles in the morning, before school, and sometimes after practice too As a result, I gained much more fitness than I otherwise would have; however, I failed to realize that the added recovery time that came with doing more volume than my coach wanted me to do would negatively impact my performance in races. Desperate to improve, I increased my volume even more, which led to some progress, but not as much as I would have made if I had stuck to my coach’s plan
One day while I was on a run before school, my coach, who was driving to school, saw me That day at practice he let me know he had seen me running and asked how long I had been doing workouts outside of practice. I didn’t want to lie to him so I said that I had been doing it since the start of the season. My coach did not like that I hadn’t told him about what I was doing outside of practice and he said that it was probably the main reason why I wasn’t doing as well as I wanted to. I decided he was probably right and stopped with the extra workouts In early October of that year, we realized that our team had a real chance at winning a state championship; we were only projected to
Alex Haponik, Class of 2026, at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, after running his personal best time of 17:30 in a cross country race. Photo by Steve McGill
CONTINUED THE AFAR PROGRAM IN PORTUGAL
Although the Portugal AFAR project is filled with demanding and difficult work, it is also an incredibly fun and exciting experience The project is filled to the brim with second-to-none excursions, including city visits to Lisbon and Setubal (among others), ancient site visits such as the Roman Theater of Lisbon, as well as kayaking in Sesimbra and surfing in Nazare. “I really liked when we got to talk to a professional surfer and see all of the surfboards of famous people and pictures of the waves in Nazare,” Bryan said, “and also the local craftsmanship that was explained in the markets of the town ” Starns also enjoyed the Nazare excursion, specifically the surfing “It was really fun, and it was my first time surfing, and I got to go up a bit The people that they brought to teach us also did a really good job ”
One of the most impactful aspects of the AFAR program is getting to experience the rich cultures of foreign countries Each project includes lifechanging cultural experiences, and the Portugal project has an especially meaningful one: visiting the mines in Alentejo. On this excursion, participants visit the minefields and learn about the history of the mines, but the best part comes after this. After exploring the mines, participants have dinner in the small mining town, and throughout dinner, miners who live in the town and work there sing intermittently These miners sing about their lives, jobs, and experiences, and tell stories about the history of Portugal through these songs Mrs Debbie Taylor, Dean of Students here at Davidson Day, detailed that this was one of the best experiences of her second time in Portugal “It would be really hard to talk about the best part, but I think that the one that was the coolest for me was the mines," she said.
“The mine is just so cool when you hear the miners sing, and hear the passion that they sing their songs with ”
The Portugal AFAR project is an inspiring experience for anybody, especially high school students yearning for a chance to see the history of the world. “Everything you touch has been part of history,” said Mrs Taylor When asked if they would recommend this project to others at DDS, Mrs Taylor, Bryan, and Starns all enthusiastically answered yes “Here [at DDS], we see you as students in school, and as athletes in some cases, but there, we get to see you as active participants in something meaningful, and I think that’s a really special thing for teachers to see, ” Taylor said. Bryan agreed, saying, “It was a very different and cool experience…there was a good balance of going out and enjoying yourself but also trying new cool things.”
This project gives students an invaluable opportunity to get out of their comfort zone and see the world beyond their immediate surroundings, and the fact that the program is distinctive to Davidson Day School makes it even more special
CONTINUED ALEX HAPONIK
finish 15 points below the favored team Coincidentally, we had a meet scheduled that week which they were also registered for In that meet, we lost to them by a lot, which motivated our team to train harder At the very next meet, we were now projected to win instead of coming second At the state championship, we were able to pull out the win, and I also ran an amazing race; I was the first finisher for our team. Even though I didn’t reach my goals time-wise, I still think that my response to the setback of my injury was excellent and taught me that setbacks can be beneficial in the long run.
Haponik, after recovering from a broken foot, becomes a state champion for Davidson Day School Cross Country
CONTINUED BELIZE AND SPAIN
The Spain trip (Zorita des los canes) will be going into its 10th year in 2025. The focus of this project is the architecture of the inspiring Zorita castle.This project comes with a lot of work as well, but it’s tolerable. Neither sophomore Maryn Holden nor music teacher Maria Howell had ever been on an AFAR project before, but they say their experiences were wonderful. Maryn said that she wanted to go in 2023 but had already planned a family vacation, so she had to wait until the next summer to go She loved her experience and would definitely recommend it to other students and faculty because “it is a unique opportunity that Davidson Day students should take advantage of and it would be great for anybody who has the mindset and maturity to embrace new things, like archeology and research.”
Maryn also appreciated that the trip gave students the opportunity to bond with their fellow classmates outside of their comfort zone She says that she did have a favorite excursion, but “thought all of the excursions were unique and each gave different experiences ” Her favorite outing was the day trip to Toledo “We got to walk around the city all day and pick different activities within our small groups,” she said “My friends and I didn’t really do a lot of set scheduled things, but we did a few things like a zip line over the river and a military museum, and then just walked around and explored the city.”
This was a really fun way to get acquainted with the city and see a lot of things in a small amount of time. She also really loved the canyoning day in Cuenca. “We put on wetsuits and floated down the river and jumped off rocks.” Their goal was to find the top of a dome that was buried under ground, so they quickly excavated stratigraphically in hopes of finding something as soon as possible to get as much work done as they could in their two-week period They found several walls and the base of a column that had an indentation, indicating that there was a door in the space “We began focusing on a smaller portion of our unit and dug deeper in hopes of finding an entrance under the wall. We ended up running out of time, but we did make a lot of progress with our discoveries of walls.”
These two projects have left indelible memories in the lives of these students and faculty members, and will continue to do so for those who go in the future
CONTINUED OUR NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL
else's growth and trajectory So I'll speak about my partner and wife, Kyle She's my biggest cheerleader She is that tailwind that propels me forward She was like, ‘ go for it.’ And I think that all the conversations we were having at home were about acknowledging that being new is hard. Starting over is hard. And so the family was really encouraging, highly trusting of me and my professional acumen This place had to be a good fit for me as a leader And a good fit for us as a family, and for our kids as a school
Question: So it takes a lot of trust.
AB: Yes it does. I also think, too, that no place is great all the time. I don't think anybody who says that is telling the truth It's hard saying goodbye to places that you love and that have raised you Before I moved to Las Vegas, I never thought I was gonna call Las Vegas home But Las Vegas was way more than home It's a part of me now; I was there for six years. Professionally and personally, I grew, I was challenged. I was tested. And to say goodbye to a place that believed in me more than I believed in myself was hard But it was time
Question: Let’s shift direction a little bit You mentioned in one of the interviews [during your candidacy] that you had never held an administrative position that didn’t include teaching in the classroom. So this is your first time you won't be teaching. So how has that been in the early part of the school year? And what do you love about teaching? What do you miss about it?
AB: What I miss about teaching are all the small funny moments that happen in any
given period of time I miss the moment of kids just getting it, when class dynamics start forming You see someone light up because they've gotten an idea for the first time. You have a kid come in and ask a question that’s maybe designed to get you off track, but it actually gets you more aligned with where you need to be going. So the other way to say that is, I miss the small magical moments of teaching that are brought to you by the students you're lucky enough to engage with What I miss the most about being in a classroom is it allows you to understand what the culture is of a whole entire class, or division of a school. Like when they're super excited because there's a game or a performance that's happening, you feel through their energy kind of what the aura is And I miss that I also miss the times too when my energy is low and a class just brings it and it just fills me back up and I feel 10 feet tall I miss that transfer of energy and understanding what the vibe is in the hallways or in the divisions, and then of the school.
Question: You mentioned, when you were meeting with the faculty last year, that you like to take a walk after school and kind of decompress Are you still able to find time to do that?
AB: I haven't really I haven't This may be surprising to people who are reading [this article], but at my core, I am an introvert who poses as an extrovert. My job in different ways requires me to be extroverted. I need to get back into the routines of a school year, now more than ever, given everything is new I live in a place now where the weather's a little bit better, as is the scenery And so I've got no excuse not to do it Because my wife is in Wyoming now, I'm taking care of my
three kids, so I’m finding time to just sit on my porch all alone at night, and I just listen to the leaves. It's therapeutic. There's no cell phone, there's nothing else. I just sit in total quiet and tranquility. And that's been my new moment of Zen But I do need to find additional ways to keep walking
Question: You've only been here for a short amount of time, but I'm sure you have some ideas of your vision for the school. What do you see as being our greatest areas for possible growth as a school?
AB: We need to co-create some of these areas for growth I think sometimes our grades are a little bit too small And we look around and a student might think, “I just don't fit,’ or “I can't find my people within, you know, a graduating class of 30 Or 35 ’ So I think we need to sort of really kind of think about what the ideal size is in terms of relationships, programs, courses, offerings. In terms of areas of growth, I don't think it's about adding anything new;
Andrew and Kyle enjoy a Las Vegas Raiders football game
CONTINUED
I think it's about preserving our core and naming what's essential to us already, and then finding ways to amplify that by 10. What I mean by that is, we've got great programs that are already happening here An example of that is our Global Studies diploma distinction and the AFAR program We need to find ways to build that all the way from our graduating class into middle school, and even into lower school And to say that global studies and the idea of cultural competency to understand the world in totality is an essential skill. We already do it. How do we amplify it? Service and leadership are already essential to things that we do. What does it look like to give that student who might not want to go to Belize to do an archeological project a service opportunity or internship within Charlotte? And again, bring that all the way down to our youngest learners So for me, those are two kind of concrete examples of growth I also think what we need to keep on doing and asking ourselves is how is our academic program amplifying the values that mean the most to us? Character, creativity, and collaboration. And how are we finding non-traditional ways to give students and give faculty the opportunity to display their character. Creativity and collaboration, but also ways for us to measure it as a school. So to me, the growth opportunity is about taking what means the most to us and finding ways to amplify it. And make it better over time
Question: You said that one of your goals in the first few months was to meet as many Davidson Day people as possible How's that going so far?
AB: So, the listening tour continues right! And so I think, as of right now, I've met with over a third of the faculty starting next week. So that will be the last week in August, I believe. I'll start having ‘lunch and learns’ with third and fourth graders, a lunch with fifth and sixth graders, a lunch with seventh and eighth graders, lunches only with seniors, only with freshmen, and then 11th and 10th graders So that to me is going to be really important I'm really kind of looking forward to it Parents out there continue to come in I'd love to hear from those who are new to the area just like me, what have they learned and experienced And whether you're new or whether you've been here for a while, the first question I always ask is, what's your Davidson day story? And how is it that you share your Davidson Day story with me? Allow me the opportunity and some space to share mine with yours. And what I've generally found is we have way more commonalities than differences And it allows us to laugh together, and then to start cocreating that future for what we want our school to be
Question: You mentioned in the first full faculty meeting about your trip from Vegas to here So can you just give a summary of that drive across the country?
AB: Sure. So, my wife and my three kids, they spend their summers on a ranch in Wyoming that they work and lead. It's also a summer camp for teenagers. They took off right at the end of school and they left me kind of alone to have the movers come pack up So what happened is, school ended, I'm left alone, thinking about leaving a place that I love coming to for one that I'm quickly falling in love with, you know, the Davidson Day School And then all of a sudden the movers show up, they put all of our belongings on a truck, and I'm left alone on an air mattress - essentially for a day and a half, with a little chihuahua (named Nelani) in heat that's quickly approaching 110 degrees. We've also cut off all of our utilities. So I'm not operating with air conditioning. I pack up, I leave, and start driving in my little Toyota Highlander with Nelani riding shotgun, and start making the drive Very quickly I found that there is not a lot between Las Vegas and parts of New Mexico as you start traveling through I-40 And what you do see a lot of is all supply trains and tractor trailers that are going 85 miles an hour. When we drove to Las Vegas six years ago, I remember we rented an RV and spent a whole lot of time with our cousins. And I remember the Mississippi River, and this idea of border crossings, and crossing from East to West. A passage of newness. When we went West, our youngest, Ryan, was just a year old My wife looked at me right after we crossed the Mississippi and she said, do you ever think we're gonna return? And I was like, I don't know All we have is opportunity And I remember crossing the Mississippi this time and being like, I've returned.
And from there, you know, crossing the Mississippi into Memphis. And you're just getting closer and closer. And you hit Memphis and then it's like, okay, then there's Knoxville. Then all of a sudden the whole country right in front of your eyes as you're driving just changes And the sun is just melting into mountains that are green and look different from the mountains of the West That whole landscape changes And I remember, I landed here in Davidson and hit the roundabout, right where the school is I took a picture of Nelani, out in front of the building, and was like, I've made it. It was that moment of everything I've been working for and dreaming about for 17 years in education, and since I was 17 years old. To be a Head of School. And I'm here.