Head of School's Message: Dec. 15

 His task was to chip away until the two figures in the sculpture revealed themselves. Working towards a vision of what will be requires patience, commitment and optimism. Our instrumental music teachers demonstrate those qualities. Their blocks of marble are the Chandler musicians they have worked with since the school year began. Forty-five instrumentalists participated in last week’s Afterschool Holiday instrumental music concert, the largest number in the 12-year history of our orchestra. Stirring performances by Chandler’s emerging and experienced musicians rewarded their teachers’ patience, commitment and optimism.

 

It takes a special person to sit through the numerous repetitions and fumblings of Jingle Bells, Smoke on the Water or Hot Cross Buns as musicians take their first steps. Every parent at Chandler gets some idea of what that experience is like for a week when students learn how to play the recorder in third grade. That experience is a way of life for our music teachers.

 

There are no short cuts. Practice, practice and more practice get you to Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall or Chandler’s Ahmanson Foundation Performing Arts Center. Congratulations to our musicians, their parents who encourage them to practice at home and to their inspiring teachers for an excellent performance.

 

We celebrated our eighth grade girls’ basketball championship three-peat at this past week's School Group assembly. Coaches Pete Carlson and Bill Anderson declared Chandler’s girls basketball program a dynasty. The entire faculty and student body cheered the girls as they showed off their trophy. Practice makes perfect. Expectations are raised for the boys.

 

The tone of the assembly changed following the cheers as Lower School Director Gayle Cole introduced the theme of feeding the hungry leading into this week’s canned food drive. A seventh grade student read her “This I Believe” essay about her belief that we have an obligation to feed the hungry. She described the impact on her of watching a man digging through trash and eating what he had found. She talked to her mom about leaving sealed containers of food in trashcans to make finding food easier for hungry, homeless people.

 

Gayle assigned the school groups the task of writing tweets to encourage everyone to bring in canned food this week. Some are posted on the Chandler website. The community service-learning program at Chandler includes activities at each grade level. Some activities, such as the weekly visits to the Orange Grove Head Start Center and the eighth grade program in which students learn about and interface with local non-profits such as Mothers Club and Union Station Foundation, are part of our curriculum. Other activities, such as the canned food drive and this week’s Middle School visits to local Head Starts, are special service events. Participation in these activities, whether a canned food drive or a visit to a Head Start center, shapes a Chandler student’s view of the world. Much is given to us and much is expected from us.

 

Chandler’s strategic planning committee met last week to discuss extending our community service program. We are looking to the Chandler Family Associates to establish a series of off-campus rollover community service events in which Chandler families can participate on a regular basis to complement our school-based program. Information on these community service opportunities will be sent out in the new year.

 

I look forward to seeing Lower School families at Wednesday’s Lower School Holiday program.

 

Thanks for choosing Chandler. I hope we are fulfilling your vision for the remarkable works of art that are your children.

 

Safe travels, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.