We held this year’s Gala at the barn by the Carlsbad Flower fields, in the barn, and everything glowed under the light of the biggest moon of the year. It was Cinco de Mayo, too. The event was a perfect reflection of what a great organization can do because it drew upon diverse groups and individuals and swirled them all onto the same team, smiling all the way—when you see that happening, that’s collaborative leadership, one of our core values, and it was going through the barn roof on Saturday night. I appreciated, on that night, the chance to tell some stories about the state of the School, and I’m incredibly grateful for how well received those stories were. This was immediately followed by an astonishing outpouring of philanthropic giving …read on to see the outcome of this…
Ernest Hemingway wrote: “In springtime there were no problems except where to be happiest.” This is the time of the 3 Gs at our school: Grauerpalooza, Gala and Graduation, three of our biggest celebrations of the year – they appear to focus on music, celebration, and life passages, but ultimately they focus on three things even more enduring: gratitude, gratitude and gratitude. The paddle raise at the gala this year offered up the chance to launch something permanent and unforgettable in an act of gratitude. Gift-pledging paddles everywhere across the barn were raised as, in less than 10 minutes, we raised the money needed to fund design development of our new campus. And yet, what we experienced was clearly more than the launch of an architectural program: Our parents, students, alumni, patrons, board members are united behind our School’s inexorable arc from local prominence to national and global leadership.
Albert Einstein, who said at least 5 out of my top 10 favorite life quotes, said: “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in class.” Our kids are spending the most dynamic part of their lives on our campus, in our great hall and on the green, in this amazing space of powerful, authentic lessons and values for living in our changing world—way more than “just” class. As our children pass through, our next and final phase of architecture will secure for them a permanent space, a constant that will remain standing in their lives and memories, like a childhood home, an indelible part of their consciousness and spirit. Thank you to all of you who turned out not only to high-step and swirl, clap and sing along, celebrate, and join the conversational buzz, but to begin the process of securing a permanent, secure home for real teachers doing real teaching—no doubt, these are getting harder to find around the country these days. Music teacher Isaac and Counselor Tricia, two stars of the Gala festivities, both comment often: there is no way they could do what they do in pretty much any other school. How can we explain this? Well, I try to every week in this column.
Our gala was a resounding success in every way, a tour de force of all that is extraordinary about our school as we embark upon our second generation. And if you think this year’s extraordinary gala was a great celebration, wait till you see Phase III: our finished campus! The message is clear: let’s get this school built!
We will start talking to our architects today.
Gala Thanks
For our beautiful, Western themed, successful Gala this year, we thank:
Carol Higgins, incredibly able gala veteran and chair of the auction
Sheila Wirick for doing the program and much of the auction acquisitions along with , and for leadership in hundreds of ways
Brenda Stevens, Gala co-chair
Jackie Campbell, Auction co-chair,
Liz Ecke, Location chair who spent 1000 to make the flower fields space available and great.
Erin Adams- Decorations chair
Robin Perreault- Class project coordinator
Tam Ashworth – Floral arrangements
Jennifer Hagstrom, Kelly Johnson, Cheryl Pia, who produced the wine gathering event, always one of our most fun evenings.
Diane Jacobs-Baizer, Wine coordinator
And thank you to all of the chairs and moms for helping setting up and taking down:
Laverne Guetz, Helen Siggurdson, Vanessa Smith , Margie Kuntz, Tara Schroeder, Annie Hutchins, Nancy Rein and Angela Velez
Many more people were involved in the success of this year’s gala, thanked and unthanked, known and behind the scenes. We can never be certain about our ability to track all the thousands of good works that were done in creating a success this big, and yet we can be completely certain that all of your good works will pay off as we continue to refine our programming and attract and develop the top educators in the region.
