With the late summer sun still hanging in the sky, the 286 students of The Winchendon School completed a full day of classes and came together as a community on Tuesday evening for Convocation and the first formal dinner of the year.
Led by Head of School Laurie Lambert, the evening began with the traditional processional through the bell tower, welcoming the new year. For seniors, this walk begins the “first of the lasts” culminating in May at Commencement.
Opening Convocation, which marks the official beginning to the new academic year, brought with it 126 new students to the Massachusetts campus, including students from 17 states. After a busy labor day weekend welcoming international students, moving into dorms, along with meeting new friends, classmates, and teachers, students had the opportunity to celebrate their next adventure and reflect on goals, personal and academic.
After a welcome from co-President Andy H. ’20, Hailey G.’20 shared her experiences as she comes to the end of her Winchendon School years. and imparted advice for all:
“You are your own competition. You’re competing with yourself. Make sure your next outcome is better than your last outcome. And while you might be busy in school, remember to call your mom.” – Hailey G. ’20
Each year, The Winchendon School chooses one of the School’s core values (also known as the Great Eight), as the theme for the year. For 2019-2020, the School will be guided by Resilience. In speaking to the student body, Head of School, Laurie Lambert told of learning resilience as the child of a military family and how she picked up, move after move, and formed new friendships at each stop.
Before leaving for the evening, students were asked to define resilience – and in working in their small advisor groups, created a definition and tableau to represent their definition of resilience.
Selecting one representative from each advisor group, the evening concluded with the traditional candle lighting and commitment to live by our definitions of resilience.
