It feels like a season of joy at Mead Hall. We have recently celebrated the Easter joy of the resurrection of Jesus in our chapels with songs of praise. Following Easter, we have had several joyful events that are important community celebrations at Mead Hall.
Two weeks ago we celebrated our athletes and our victories this year at the Athletic Recognition Ceremony. It has been a good year for Mead Hall’s athletics as documented each week in our In the Hoop newsletter, and as I highlighted at the banquet, during the challenges of the pandemic this year our sports have been a light and a joy that has lifted us up and brought us together. Speaking of being together, our upper school students enjoyed a “normal” Senior Prom this year. Then we had the joy of the Strawberry Festival which returned this year with hundreds of school families and locals enjoying the day, and we were blessed with the income from the festival going to the PTO to support our school. I want to especially thank everyone who volunteered to make these events a success, and I would like to thank our PTO for all they do for the school through events and fundraising and our Panther Club for all they do to support our athletic program and fundraising. We cannot do all these wonderful events without our volunteers!
Last week we had several events for which students had carefully prepared and mark our school as one where our students engage in research and give oral presentations of what they have discovered. Each morning our seniors delivered their senior project presentations in the Aiken Prep Campus auditorium, providing us with interesting and in depth information and analysis on a number of interesting topics. These 20 minute presentations are the culmination of their research project which is undertaken in the Senior Project Class where they had already delivered a 15-20 page college level paper earlier in the year. While this was going on I enjoyed learning from our younger biographical researchers in 3rd and 4th grade who brought to life notable historical figures in the 3rd Grade Wax Museum and 4th Grade Night at the Museum. It was a joy for me to see the seed of the amazing presentations that our seniors gave reflected in the presentations our younger students are giving now.
As we move through this week we have had the joy of music provided by our bands at the Spring Band Concert on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday at Lower School Chapel we presented our 4th graders with their class shirts to recognize that they are completing lower school and making the transition to middle school, where they will be able to wear these t-shirts on Spirit Fridays each week. It was a joy to celebrate our 4th graders and we look forward to celebrating our 8th graders this spring as they complete middle school, and finally our graduates at their commencement in a few weeks.
Tomorrow our St. Thaddeus Campus will be full of life and joy for Family Day which celebrates our community of families, grandparents, and friends. Family Day will be the launch of our Brick Fundraiser, which I invite you to read about below. We are grateful to St. Thaddeus Church for the plans to redesign and renew the courtyard in front of the red brick Mead Hall School Building. The church has provided us with an opportunity to inscribe the bricks in the courtyard to raise money for the redevelopment of the large playground on the St. Thaddeus Campus for which we have wonderful plans that will bring joy to the lives of our students for years to come.
Wishing you blessings of joy,
Frank Sawyer