Head of School Foreword
The Spirit of Service
I have long considered teaching to be one of the finest forms of
those habits of heart, of the students profiled in these pages. It
service. It is, indeed, a privilege to be a teacher, and teaching is apparent in the parents and visitors interviewed. It breathes
is privileged service. The implicit trust of parents, indeed of all through Rachael Beare’s thoughts about the value of a liberal
the adults in a society, in the role of the teacher as the midwife arts education, and in Percy Jiang’s comments on college
of the coming generation is a strong indicator of this honor and advising and college readiness.
duty. We serve to teach, and we teach to serve. Service above
self is a worthy motto, and the celebration of service builds Teachers serve, as I said in my opening sentence. That is our
community and deepens compassion. calling. We do so individually, and in groups. We try to live our
commitment to character and community.
‘Community’ is
As a school, Keystone is most definitely about service. We aim not only our community on this small plot in Houshayu, but
to serve our country and to play our part in producing the next communities elsewhere, wherever we touch them and they
generation of thoughtful, caring, community-centered, and us. Our students imbibe this, and many times take service and
world-oriented citizens. Academic excellence, and the training their sense of community further than we have been able to do
of the mind, is a consequential part of this mission. But growing as their mentors.
humble habits of heart is a vital complement to intellectual
prowess. Without it, any claim to holistic intentions is hollow. We know that we grow in and through each other. In Zulu there
The spirit of service at Keystone is wide-ranging, as you will a person [fully human] through other people). This edition of
read in the opening essay. You will see this clearly in Trisha The Keystone Magazine is all about that. The magazine cover
Power’s combination of direct and specific work in Nepal with says it all. Service with a smile. Service with two smiles. Or, in
her more subtle conviction that the humanitarian impulse can the words of the title of a much-loved hit song first recorded in
be taught in moments that present themselves anywhere, and the late 1960s: “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”.
is a wise saying: Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (A person becomes
at any time. Wushu teacher Mao Xiaokun exemplifies this spirit
of service in a beautifully nuanced manner, as in his explana-
tion of the traditional courtesy contained in the simple fist and
palm salute.
You will sense a commitment to serve not only in the commu-
nity service projects that abound in our school, just a few of Head of School
which are chronicled in these pages, but also in the attitudes, Keystone Academy
The Keystone Magazine 1