Interview
Q:
How will Keystone’s boarding program
sufficiently prepare students for college and
adult life?
A:
One of the major benefits that parents will see from their
children is that they will become independent not just in
time management, and managing their room and their work,
but they also become much more interesting kids. Parents often
say that when their children go away to boarding, When you see
your child on a daily basis sometimes you are talking in very short
sound bites about life in general. “How was your day?” “Oh,
it was fine,” the child will say. But when a child is in boarding
school and life is so full of different opportunities, parents will
often say, “I talked with my child for the first time” – particularly
boys’ parents – “and my child had so much to talk about. He was
telling me about what he was doing in science class, and then he
was talking about his roommate, and a trip that he took with his
advisor.” Kids will have so many different experiences and have
so much more to talk about. This is one way that students benefit
from boarding and how it prepares them for life.
Students will feel different in their own skin in terms of being
connected to other people. Their circle expands in a boarding
program. They feel more comfortable with other people, with lots
of different types of people. By living at home that time is reduced
with just the family members.
Academically, kids will really develop a voice. I look forward to
the day when kids ask, “Why do we do this that way?” “Is this the
best way that we can run this program or could we consider trying
something different?” My response back would be, “Why do you
think that would work?” And get kids engaged and really thinking
about how they can improve life on campus. The other piece is
that kids feel ownership of their community and of our school.
Our students will be ready to face the world wherever they end
up, whether it is here in China or anywhere else in the world. They
will have a strong foundation and strong legs to stand on because
they have had to be independent. They have matured. They have
had to take risks. They have been greatly challenged, not just
academically, but in their thinking and their actions.
Q:
What is the value of friendship formed in this
critical stage of life? What are the implications
for the students during their time at Keystone and
after?
A:
The connections that students will make with teachers at
Keystone are very deep, because teachers see them in so
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The Keystone Magazine
many different realms. I have seen this at a number of different
schools. It is not like you walk into a Math class, for example,
that has 50 students. These are classes where it is you, your
teacher and 14 other students. You cannot hide in these settings.
“Is your homework done,” the teacher will say. “No,” says the
student. “Oh, that’s a problem,” the teacher will say. In contrast
to being one of many where the teacher might not ever know,
these teachers will know. Teachers will know their students and
what they are interested in. You will see teachers go to plays and
games because students that live on your hallway or that you
advise or students who are in your class are participating and we
are family, we are connected. So the bond with teachers will be
very different than what students are used to. There will not be
any middle person in the classroom who talks to the teachers on
behalf of the students. Students will have direct access to their
teachers for extra help, conversation, mentoring and guidance.
“What we want to do in leadership
development is to play to the
strengths of each student and not
have a preconceived notion of what
leadership has to be.”
This is what boarding school teachers do. Particularly in the first
year when we have 300 students and just 50 boarders, we will
know everyone. Imagine the attention that students are going to
receive from teachers, administrators and everyone else. It will be
a small and intimate group.
Roommates become friends for life. Proximity really matters. We
have students from past schools