Dear Boundless Families:
November finally arrived, dusting us with frosty snow dripping from pine. An early Holiday card. It brought your kids out of their pajamas and those over the top bathrobes they wear that make them look like crime bosses without the cigar.
What is it with this addiction to PJs anyways?
They wear them to dinner, often to class, and when they play their never-ending board games. Maybe some marketing guru would have us be renamed “The Pajama School”.
In fact, every day around 5:00pm, when school winds down, every single kid – I mean every last one of these delightful younglings, congregate in the living room like they are about to begin a 12-hour slumber party. It’s so cozy. I just soak up the energy.
I do declare, this is the closest group of kids in our boarding school I have ever seen. I don’t say that lightly. Now fully bubbled, unmasked and uninhibited, they are a family. The staff are the older siblings. The Managers are the parents. I am stuck with the moniker of “Gramps”.
Each student has found their peace with this place and calls it home.
Lest I give the impression that Boundless is nothing more than a couch, every instant they are not in their PJs, they are out in the forest. Making trails, harvesting our neighbours’ crops, testing soil, learning intently about the natural ecosystem. David, last session’s Math teacher and this one’s professor extraordinaire of all things Environmental Science, has given such a spin on experiential learning. I have never quite witnessed such creativity. He’s brilliant. Your kids’ minds are being blown.
My favourite part of this school right now is just being with your children. They are exceptional human beings. When I am bogged in my unique administrative wasteland, they lift my spirits.
Thanks so much to you, families, for being part of this educational crusade. Each of you is like the 85% chunk of an iceberg under the water. The 15% above are the students themselves. But their ancestry, history and generous values all belong to you caregivers. You are in every fibre of their being.
Best wishes,
Steven
