Welcome from an altitude of 39,000 feet and minus 74degrees farenheit. I am taking a quick course in geography as I write to you for the October newsletter. It is Wednesday, October 10, and I am 2 hours (1016 miles) from Dubai and a brief pit stop there before I arrive at today’s destination of Muscat, Oman where I will visit with the director of the ABA School in Muscat. She and I will then head off to co-chair a Middle States accreditation team for an independent school in southern India. At age 53 this is my first time to the Middle East and to Asia.
The screen on the back of the seat in front of me is flashing a map with constant facts regarding the outside temperature, the time at our final destination, and the altitude – all brought to me in Arabic, German, and English. Next comes a map of the region; we have crossed the Black Sea and will soon be flying over the Gulf of Oman. The Canadian woman beside me speaks French and English, and we study my guidebook to try to identify the unlabeled countries on the map. Shouldn’t I have learned this somewhere along my educational journey?
During the opening days of school, a dormitory activity for new and returning students included getting together on their dormitory floors and explaining the “geography of their lives.” Everyone described where they live and where they have visited in the world and located these areas on a map of the world. Mercersburg brings together students from 28 countries and 28 states this year; we celebrate that diversity. Our background and experience of place informs our world view and the collective sharing of that allows students and all community members to deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world at a time in history when that is an urgent necessity. Just getting to know each other breaks down fears and barriers that do not need to be there.
I hope at least once in his or her experience your son or daughter will travel to a place that brings the world we see, feel, and hear at Mercersburg to a “hands-on” experience outside of or within the United States. Global perspective and awareness is one of the school’s area of focus as a result of our collective goal-setting during our own recent accreditation. Last year over 60 students took advantage of Mercersburg travel learning opportunities. This year we hope to involve even more students. In fact, six students will travel to Israel and Oman in late November/early December as they attend a symposium that Mercersburg is co-hosting with the ABA School in Oman. The topic is peacemaking, conflict resolution and combating terrorism.
We are off to a great start to the year and hope that many of you will have the opportunity to join us on campus for fall family weekend. Some of you may be flying over half of the world while others will cover the distance from Chambersburg or Washington to Mercersburg. I hope that once here you will get to know each other as part of the weekend. Mercersburg truly does bring the world together.
As always, please be in touch with any concerns, questions, or great ideas. See you soon.