People are pretty bad
at judging what will make them happy.
People vastly overvalue work, money and real estate. They vastly undervalue intimate bonds and the
importance of arduous challenges.”
·
David
Brooks: The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and
Achievement
“I started with
CircumBurke, and then I wrote about some early races … I wrote about how hard
CircumBurke was, especially when I was alone on the trail. And then how much
better it got once I found a group of friends. …. My Term End is really about
learning from failure.”
These were the words from one of our students last week. The
kids have been writing their winter Term Ends and the topic has sparked some of
our daily conversations this week.
Burkies have been writing Term Ends since the founding of
the school. They are shared with everyone. Before the days of computers, we
would put our papers in a basket in the living room and folks would sift
through the pile and read. Today we share them on a Google folder.
Self-reflection and community sharing are two cornerstones
of BMA. Those values connect the Greek value of “Know Thyself” with a belief of
BMA that the spirit of the school is everyone’s responsibility. We assess our own work and we share those thoughts.
Last spring, I read Term Ends for the first time in many
years. One parent sent me his daughter’s Term End with the simple statement
that I needed to read that essay to really understand his kid. Another Term End
sparked some controversy among the kids; so much so, that the author rewrote
her Term End to reflect on the controversy itself. I’m not sure she had to
rewrite it, but I loved the passionate dialogue the essay sparked among the
community about school values. These were just two examples of know thyself and shared community
spirit. These are reasons we still do Term Ends at Burke, 46 years later.
At dinner the other night, two students talked about how
they had gone back to read their 9th grade term ends. “They are so
embarrassing!” they exclaimed. When I asked why, they said, “I was such a bad
writer back then.” I said to them: First, it’s great you are looking back.
Second, now you see how much you have improved as a writer at Burke! The Term Ends also display growth. They are
snapshots in time of kids growing, changing, learning, and risking failure.
That’s right from our mission statement:
Burke Mountain Academy
provides passionate ski
racers the opportunity to pursue their limitless academic and athletic potential in a community based on trust. BMA embraces an ethos in which hard work is held in the
highest esteem and risking
failure and learning from
success provide exceptional preparation for life beyond Burke.
Take care,
