by Head of School, Michael Robinson

Whether a family, class or advisory has adopted a family or selected a needed-gift item from a tree, it has been fun to see holiday gifts pouring into the School each morning. Quite literally, there are mountains of gifts all to be given away this holiday season and the need is still great. Thank you so much for sharing the holiday spirit with those members of our larger regional community for whom buying and giving gifts is simply not possible.

I titled this reflection on the season Holiday Presents and Presence in order to play with the words present and presence. The sprit of this holiday season certainly includes the giving and receiving of gifts to one another – the presents – but the spirit of the season is also a way of being and living, a Holiday Presence . This presence is the way of being that continually seeks to embody the generosity, compassion and joy of the season within ourselves, our families and our communities and not just for a few weeks but throughout the year.

I encourage us to think of Lake Forest Country Day School in these ways – LFCDS as a gift given and a gift to be given to children and their families; and, LFCDS as a presence, a way of being and striving always to translate core values, community spirit and intellectual curiosity into daily reality.

In a recent article published by The Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education, ethicist Thomas Lickona reflects on the power of role-modeling in children’s character development: “In hundreds of interviews with parents, young adults, and others, I’ve ask people, “What did your parents do to try to teach you good values and good character?” People speak of many things, including their parents love, their high expectations, their firm discipline, and their wisdom about life. But far and away, the most common answer I receive is simply, “They set a good example.”

Thank you for giving your children the gift of education at Lake Forest Country Day School and for the many holiday presents you and the children are sending to families all around the region. Thank you, also, for your presence in our children’s lives, for your good example, and for your support of LFCDS as we strive as a community to be a formative life-long presence in every child’s life.