Elie Wiesel was a Jewish survivor of the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz. His parents and sister perished. Mr. Wiesel survived and went on to study philosophy, became a teacher, and a professional journalist and author. It took him years to be able to write about his experiences and observations relating to the Second World War.

Mr. Wiesel’s speech on April 12, 1999, to the President of the United States and members of the U.S. Congress, as part of the Clinton government’s White House Millennium Series, remains one of the most impactful speeches I have ever heard. The title of his speech was, “The Perils of Indifference: Lessons From A Violent Century.” It is widely regarded as one of the greatest speeches of all time. I encourage you to read or watch his speech in its entirety. (You may watch it here.)

I believe that kids today do not fear Parent-Teacher Meetings like I did when I was a kid. I’m not sure what I was so worried about regarding that particular event, but as a kid, it did have an ominous undertone. Actually, truth be told, I don’t think my parents attended very often. Nor did my friends’ parents.

In hindsight, I suppose, parents mostly only attended the meetings if there was something concerning or “wrong.”

Today, there are some very big differences between the tone, motivation to attend and anticipated outcomes of this twice-yearly tradition at TCS. Perhaps the biggest difference is the understood and necessary benefits of a healthy partnership between a child and their teachers.

“The most critical role for K-12 educators…will be to equip young people with the curiosity and passion to be lifelong learners who feel ownership over their education.”

This quote is taken from my new favourite article, by Thomas L. Friedman, entitled, “After the pandemic, a revolution in education and work awaits” as originally published in The New York Times (October 2020). You can read the article here or here.

Years ago, a student in the Junior School asked me if I “owned” TCS. Last week, at the Junior School morning student drop-off, I was asked if I was the “big boss.” My answer to this and similar questions usually involves a collection of responses that include, but are not limited to: “No. I have 600 kid bosses and 200 colleagues to help me”; “I feel more like a small cheese than a big boss”; or “Bruce Springsteen is the boss; I’m just a fan.”

But my favourite response is a quote that I read some time ago, in which a leader in a large organization (unfortunately, I can’t remember who?) stated: “I don’t run this place; I help lead it.” It is perhaps the best explanation for why I so frequently speak about Canadian geese.

For the benefit of new parents, let me explain.

Canadian geese, as you probably are aware, fly in a “V” formation. But do you know why? There are actually lots of hypotheses to describe their flying pattern. These include: