A Message from the Rector & Head of School

Fall Convocation is one of our most special and important evenings of the year. It is the first time in the school year when we are all gathered together as one school community in the heart of our campus: St. Mary’s Chapel. St. Mary’s is a place of welcome and peace for people of all faiths and, indeed, people of no faith or those who are faith questioning. For everyone, every time they enter St Mary’s, we offer them the gift of community, peace, and the unburdening of whatever is crowding their minds. We offer them the opportunity for worship and reflection, and the joy of learning, music, and connection. When we come into the heart of our school, our hearts must be present - not just today, but on all of the days. And so, today, I charge you to make a silent pledge to accept and enjoy all of the gifts that St Mary’s and chapel services have to offer, and to carry them with you beyond the walls of this beautiful building. 

As we are all now gathered together in the heart of our school, I can share more about this year’s theme: positive school culture. A positive school culture is something that most people will agree that they want, but often it can be hard to define what it actually means. How do you make a culture? What makes a culture positive? Is it “influencers”? Is it a majority? Who is most responsible for a culture? Is one group more responsible than another? Can a culture be broken? Mended? Changed? Improved? These are not easy questions to answer.

We see references to positive cultures and, in fact, examples of culture influences and influencers in several faith texts. Jesus instructed his followers to be the “salt of the earth” and a “city on a hill,” meaning that their good deeds should preserve society, and their actions should be a light guiding others to God. In Matthew 5, verses 13 to 16, we read, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.”

In Judaism, the Torah and other texts emphasise the creation of a positive culture through kindness, justice, humility, and the nurturing of community bonds. A positive culture is clearly woven through and is a basis of major world religions. But how do we address our culture, here at Chatham Hall? Can we, individually, really have that much positive influence on an entire school’s community culture? I believe that the answer is absolutely and unequivocally yes. I want to share a story that I believe more than proves that one person can make a difference and dramatically influence culture in an extraordinarily positive way.

On Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Northern Thailand, the Wild Boars, a boys’ junior soccer team, had finished their practice session and planned to spend the rest of their day exploring some local caves with their Assistant Coach and to celebrate a team member’s birthday. There were twelve boys aged 11-16. They set off into the caves with their 25-year-old coach. The rainy season in their region typically did not begin until a few weeks later, but, not long after the boys had moved well into the cave system, heavy rain began to fall and did not stop. This caused flooding of the cave system, rapidly trapping all twelve of the boys and their coach inside. None of them would see daylight again for more than two full weeks.

Fortunately, the boys had brought plenty of supplies as they planned to celebrate a birthday, and they certainly had plenty of fresh water. However, they had absolutely no way of escaping. They knew no way out of the cave other than the way they had entered, which was completely flooded. And it was still raining. 

Unsurprisingly, the young boys were panicked and terrified. They knew that the rainy season in Thailand typically lasted for several months. It was not difficult for even the youngest boys to clearly see the stark reality of their situation. This did not seem like a time for calm or positivity. However, their coach was a committed Buddhist (a faith that promotes positivity), and he was very aware that these twelve boys looked to him for guidance and leadership. In this moment, he had to set the tone. He had to create and sustain a positive culture within the trapped group. He led the boys into a routine of Buddhist prayers, which focus on and promote positivity through mindfulness. Far from denying negative emotions, of which there were many, he followed Buddhist principles of working with all of the boys’ feelings to try to reach a positive perspective on their situation, and to pray and pray that they would be found and rescued. 

Five thousand eight hundred miles away in England, the story of the trapped boys hit the BBC news just a couple of days later. It was seen by two British divers, both experienced in difficult rescue missions. Both were moved and sympathetic, but both were also thousands of miles away and were totally unconnected to the country and the families in which and to which this situation was happening. Once again, a decision was made, in this case by these two men, to positively influence a culture. It was the culture and mindset of professional divers across the world who had the skills, but not the connection or coordination, to work together to execute a rescue mission. These two men provided the galvanizing positive catalyst for a rescue mission that ultimately included 10,000 people (including 100 divers, 2000 soldiers, and 900 police officers) from 26 countries.

The impact of individuals on positive culture meant that, when the British divers were the first to navigate the highly dangerous series of underwater tunnels to reach the boys, nine days after they became trapped, every one of them and their coach was still alive. And again, because of the positive impact of their coach in keeping the boys optimistic and calm, they were all able to stay in good spirits in the cave for several more days while an extremely complicated extraction plan was formed. Every boy and the coach made it out alive. 

We can think that a culture is formed by others. Or that it is someone else’s responsibility to make a culture more positive. That is not so. We all hold an innate and complete responsibility to do our part, to build up, to contribute to our school’s positive school culture. We can put time and energy into all that we do, into how things feel, what messages they send, what vibe they create, whether they tell people that they are welcome, that they belong. We can, we must, we will, do the things that make us proud of our school and proud of its culture. We will observe White Flag, the Purple and Golden Rules, the Honor Code, and the Civil Discourse Statements. We will step up. We will lean in. Here, in our school home, we will all play our part as we build up our very own, very special, very impactful, very purple and gold, positive school culture.