The Lamp
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 6 Winter 2011
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Ne w sl et t er
f r om
O l df i e l ds
Sc h ool
A Feeling of Family
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t the annual Alumnae Weekend three years ago, my husband and I entertained the class of 1983 at our house – 25 years since they graduated from this all-girls school. Though we had seen these young women several times at previous reunions, for some reason, it really struck us how connected we both felt to so many of them. They had been boarding students at Oldfields, where I have worked since 1980. Many of them had been in my French or Western Civilization classes, had accompanied me to France or had taken my husband’s “History of Rock and Ansley Smithwick Roll” class, had been in one of my dorms, had shared the stage in a play with my husband, had babysat our oldest son, had been one of our advisees, or had sat at “the Smithwick table,” Table #7, for dinner. On weekends, we most assuredly had chaperoned them at a “mixer,” taken them for ice cream or to the movies or to a play downtown, or canoed down the Gunpowder River with them. It was extremely rewarding and gratifying to see these women, who have become loving mothers and successful career women, and to realize that I might have had a little something to do with how they all turned out.
(left to right) White Spirit Ashley Carroll ’13, White Captain Amira Lockhart ’12, Green Captain Christina Rock ’12, and Green Spirit Louise Chapman ’13
I have heard from many of our alumnae – who come back to their 40th, 50th and even 60th reunions – that the friends they made at boarding school are their oldest and dearest, and those that have lasted a lifetime. Teachers, who have taught in both boarding and day schools, also recount that the relationships established with students in the boarding school environment can be stronger because they were created in so many different settings.
What makes teaching and living at a boarding school so special is the relationships formed there. Living in a boarding school is very much like living in a family. It encompasses all the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and all the joys and sorrows of familial life. After all, boarding school becomes the students’ “home away from home” for nine months of each continued on page 2
Inside
Fall Athletics Wrap-Up, All-Stars, & Awards • Fall Riding at Oldfields • Oldfields School Concert Series • Largo Core Profile • Alumnae Weekend Preview