July 5, 2023
A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
Dear Maplebrook Community:
We hope everyone continues to be healthy. November begins the season of gratitude. Yesterday was the 245th birthday of the Marine Corps and today is Veterans Day. In a couple of weeks, we will be surrounded by some family to celebrate Thanksgiving as safely as possible. This week each year, I find myself feeling pensive as I reflect upon my upbringing and how my father, a proud Marine, used the lessons he learned serving our country to teach his children about service to others, fortitude and courage in our everyday lives.
It’s Maplebrook’s 75th year and this morning, I began to think about the significance of this time of year. I thought about the advent of Maplebrook coinciding with the end of a world war. I also thought about the many qualities that such an endeavor can bring out. Courage, selflessness, and exuberance when facing the unknown, but being driven by a growing need to help our students have a quality educational experience. It is a humbling sight for me to see how courageous these founding women were. I am grateful for their vision. I am grateful for their tenacity. I am grateful for Maplebrook, our students, our staff and our families.
In just a short time you will be reunited with your students for a well-deserved break. I encourage you to extend your gratitude to someone who is important to you and your family, even if it is virtually. In the spirit of this season of gratitude and reverence, we can be an example to our students. Let that veteran know you are grateful for his/her service, thank that teacher who stretched you beyond your comfort zone, find that organization that you can serve with your students while they are home on break.
Remembrance is inspiring. It inspires me to appreciate the sacrifices of those who came before us and to draw upon their lessons. It inspires me to do the right thing for others in our everyday lives and sometimes remembrance helps us be courageous just like Maplebrook’s founders. For all our veterans, thank you for your service.
Be well.
Jenn Scully