Enter to Learn; Leave to Serve

A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press revealed that of those adult respondents surveyed:

Just 27% say they are satisfied with national conditions, while 66% are dissatisfied.

Positive views of the state of the nation have been mired at about 30% for most of the past two years; in December 2006, 28% said they were satisfied with the way things were going in the country, while 65% were dissatisfied.


It’s easy to see why… the Iraq war shows no sign of an end on the horizon, the sub-prime crisis has spiraled into a liquidity problem for the financial services sector, and unemployment is edging up while the Federal Reserve is becoming concerned about the possibility of rising inflation. Sounds to me like the 1970s called and they want their problems back!

Closer to home the rapidly escalating price of gasoline has caused both Ford and General Motors to scale back production on popular sport utility vehicles as the market for them is verging on collapse. And, consumer confidence is at a 16 year low. As the nation turns its attention to the upcoming presidential contest between Senators Obama and McCain, more and more pundits are describing the election as a dramatic choice between stability and change.

Whether that description is true, or not, remains to be seen. That having been said, there can be little doubt that our national dilemma regarding the direction the country should be taking provides an historic opportunity to define the relationship between shared civic values and the collective good. The problem, however, clusters around a conundrum: whose civic values? ... and which collective good?

The dreary state of the national attitude towards our near-term future may appear to be an odd topic for a column in the Parent Newsletter - which essentially ushers in the 2008-2009 academic year (note all those forms included with the Newsletter that must be filled out before the first day of school!). Encountering a new year – whether it occurs on January first or August 21st – is an opportunity to make resolutions, to remind ourselves of the priorities we have set, and, significantly, to embrace the opportunity to establish a new direction. I’ve grown fond of wishing students “Happy New Year” on the first day of school; not only because it startles them into recognizing that they are embarking on a new school year, but also because the same sense of hope and optimism which typically accompanies the cheers of well wishers in January can be found in the more sedate and purposeful behaviors of students and teachers in August.

A new school year makes it easy, however, for students, teachers and parents to focus their attention on the matters at hand – new faces, new responsibilities, new textbooks – and to miss the obvious at a place like La Salle ... we are also charged with forming the next generation of socially responsible citizens. Our Mission Statement makes this clear:

Motivated by a spirit of faith and zeal, our students are informed by and made responsible for the world in which they live.

Over the course of four years La Salle students will be exposed to a variety of learning experiences that reinforce this noble goal; yet the pressing issues which command our attention every time we turn on the television can seem too great for a teenager to ponder. If we remain focused on the larger context of our Mission: to produce good students and good people, we can get our intellectual arms around global issues – if only to remind ourselves that the values nurtured here at La Salle are the very same ones that will facilitate adult conversations regarding the relationship between shared civic values and the collective good.

What better place to launch a conversation about a future world that isn’t at war that, is in harmony with the environment, and promotes cross-cultural cooperation than in a school where students are encouraged to:

Enter to Learn; Leave to Serve

Happy New Year!