What’s Happening at Bement
The end of the fall term is just around the corner, and that means it is performance time in the lower school! Classes that have been working on plays for the term put on their costumes and entertain families and fellow students alike with their creativity and stagecraft. Last week, the first grade and Mrs. Gage’s fifth grade section took to the stage in the Barn. Fifth graders write and produce their own play, with the help of a teacher, while first graders adapt a favorite picture book to the theater. During the term’s final week, we will see additional performances by the fourth grade and two upper school drama classes: seventh and eighth grade.
What I’m Reading, and/or Watching, and/or Listening To
I was on the road for Bement this past week, which meant plenty of airport & airplane time. The book keeping me company on my most recent travels? Eager by Ben Goldfarb – this delightfully readable nonfiction text is subtitled: “The surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter.” Recommended to me by an environmental science teacher, Eager provides an in-depth look at North America’s largest rodent and how beavers act as a keystone species in the healthy maintenance of our ecosystem. Beavers were nearly hunted to extinction in parts of North America during the height of the fur trading industry, but they have rebounded to healthy levels in most places. Today, they face new threats, mostly from highway departments and private landowners, but they also may be a critical tool in the ongoing battle to help the earth heal from the climate crisis and build more sustainable forestry and land management practices as the population grows. And – they’re super cute and interesting!
What Else Is on My Mind
My most recent travels took me to Seoul, South Korea, and Singapore, accompanied by Kim Loughlin, Bement’s Assistant Head of School and Director of Admission. Kim and I make this trip annually to bolster Bement’s long-standing relationship with boarding families from South Korea, and we have added Singapore for the last two years as an intriguing new market for international students. The most enriching and heart-warming part of our fall trip is always our time with current families and alumni in Seoul; each year we gather for a dinner together to celebrate Bement and hear their stories. Listening to the impact our school has on their children, and to the exciting and innovative adventures our alumni engage in, is a wonderful reminder at the end of the fall term of just how much Bement means to children and families from all across the globe.
