Brand New Day
Schools in New Trier Township, both public and private, are regarded as some of the finest in the nation, if not the world. Why? It’s not just a matter or means, or even resources. It takes bold moves, brave thinking and the support of a community to make it happen. In this issue, we celebrate all of those things.
So here we are, sitting on the edge of a brand new year. Welcome 2012. Welcome de rigeur best intentions and stoic resolutions. But here at Quintessential New Trier, we think the time has come for a different approach. We think it’s time to follow your example and try something new, and maybe even a little bit bold.
With all that’s at stake this year, for our communities and our country, maybe it’s time to stand up and celebrate all that we are already doing — and have been doing — to lead this nation forward.
When you turn through the pages in this Education Issue we hope that you will be as impressed with your neighbors, colleagues and children as we were. Start with the cover, not just with the cutting edge Trung Le design, but also with the looks of determination on those North Shore Country Day School students’ faces.
I was at that photo shoot, helping them relax in the V, asking them to do what they normally do in an Upper School renovation that is already raising the bar for classroom design throughout the nation (read more with Lisa Skolnik’s “Out of the Box,” on pages 46-53). What a smart, talented group of kids they were. “Have a title for this story yet?” Samuel Akainyah asked. “You should call it a Brand New Day School. Get it? New day school?”
Samuel was on to something.
It is a new day, not just for North Shore Country Day, but also for students at New Trier Township High School who are studying biology and geoscience in laboratories that are over the railroad tracks and deep into the Cook Country Forest Preserve. Veteran science writer and columnist Abigail Foerstner spent much of last fall exploring along with them for “Into The Woods,” a feature you will find on pages 54 to 59.
And then there’s the story of Roger Weissberg, one of the nation’s leaders in the “new” and burgeoning field of social and emotional learning. Yes, he’s speaking at a sure-to-be-packed Family Awareness Network of New Trier Township Schools event on Feb. 8. Yes, he’s one of the creators and collaborators on a national initiative called CASEL. But did you know that this education rock star is also a Wilmette resident and a former school volunteer with his own children? His story, “CASEL Builder,” appears on pages 60 to 65.
The education theme continues throughout the issue, in places big and small. One of my favorites is our Quintessential People story on Wilmette entrepreneur Eric Smoot (pages 40-45). You won’t need to read between the lines to see the influence a few good teachers and mentors had on his life.
So yes, we’re kind of shouting this year. For all that is going wrong in the world, so much is also going right.
The future is right here in our towns, in the hands of our children, and in the hands of those who rock the cradle of their education and upbringing.
Let’s give them freedom to be individuals — to think and to give, to fail and to innovate. And let them lead the way.
Quintessential America is on the horizon. We’d love to hear from you on those stories or ideas that you think best represent Quintessential America. What would you like to see? Send your thoughts and comments to our publisher, Lisa Stamos, at publisher@qnewtrier.com.