My blog from Houston, Texas. Updated most weeks, usually on Sundays.
Two days ago, I wrote a blog about the importance of effort and the way in which we now recognise it at Awty through the Civitas Awards. I hope that no-one misinterpreted my statement that effort matters as implying that achievement does not !
Yesterday, I shook the hands of 480 students during two awards presentation ceremonies that focussed specifically on achievement. If I add the number of hands shaken at the Civitas Awards presentation on Wednesday (170) and the Honors Societies Induction Ceremony that same evening (140), that makes 790 student hands shaken in just two days. I have a couple of hundred more before the weekend (mainly Grade 12 students), and a similar number again next week (mainly the tiny hands of Lower School award winners and graduating students).
That’s a large number of hands (especially when quite a number of them yesterday were somewhat sweaty with excitement), but I loved every minute of it !
We began at 8 :15 am with the Middle School Awards Ceremony. This involved the presentation of 205 prizes, including to my personal delight, the books that I awarded to Amelia Ward and Gabriella Murdoch as the top students in the Middle School in this year’s "Where in the World is Dr Codrington ?" competition.
What especially impressed me was the enthusiastically supportive applause, and even the occasional cheering for special awards, that pervaded the entire awards presentation. This told me more clearly that words could ever convey what a positive, cooperative and mutually encouraging student community we have at this school.
The Upper School Awards ceremony finished with the presentation of several very special awards – first the top scholar awards for each grade in each section, and then the highlight of the ceremony – the Citizenship Award, presented this year to Rym Benchaabane.
In the years to come, I look forward to hearing about the inevitable successes and challenges of Awty’s wonderfully bright, curious, engaged, articulate students. Our students are surely this school’s greatest asset, and I know they are destined to make a significant and positive impact on our world.
Yes, achievement matters too
Friday, 24 May 2013