Upper School Division News: October 31, 2024

October 31st 2024

Dear Winston Families,

“Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn” (Elizabeth Lawrence). While this may be a more sophisticated way of saying “take time to stop and smell the roses”, I do like the way the specifics in this sentiment are expressed.

As we cross the threshold of another November 1, we enter into a time in the academic world that is typically a whirlwind - the final games of Fall sports, Homecoming, Halloween, the start of Winter sports , Thanksgiving, exams and final grades and the Holiday season of December. We are often in such a rush to get into and through the next month or two that it feels like a blur by January. You may have heard people talk about “surviving” the holidays rather than enjoying them…

My message to you this week is aimed as much at our community as it is myself. It’s very easy to get so wrapped up in the daily grind that we forget to take a little time out for the things that will actually stick in our memories. When I was teaching I used to extoll the benefits of school trips to parents and students by telling them the following: I have never had a former student come back to me years later to say how much they enjoyed the Constitutional Law briefs I would give them, but I have had dozens tell me that our trips to London or Rome were the best part of their school experience and they remember them often to this day. There’s always work to be done - but on one will remember the time it took to clean the kitchen. Everyone will remember your spontaneous trip to the Arboretum, or the Perot museum, or just brunch this weekend…

Some things may in fact be “left undone”, but these are often the fleeting items. Take a little time this weekend and this season to “sit still and watch the leaves turn.”

Looking Wistfully From the Upstairs,

Chris Ames