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Dr. Grauer's Column - Beyond the Diploma

Dr. Grauer's Column - Beyond the Diploma

Beyond the Diploma:
How a Small Program Evolved Into a Crowning Achievement
By Stuart Grauer

“Grauer has not only prepared me academically but has given me a sense of purpose in the world.”
– Alex V.

Over the course of five transformative mornings in May 2024, The Grauer School's auditorium again became a stage for deep reflection, personal revelations, and heartfelt appreciations as the senior class presented their Graduation Defenses. Narratives, slides, dance, musical performances, and follow-ups from the audience wove together the threads of leadership, love, and the pursuit of knowledge of these seniors.  

Kai D. '24 receives congratulatory hugs after his presentation - May 10, 2024

The program started out 15 years ago, with simple instructions: “Second semester seniors opt for Graduation with distinction in an area of personal pride in one of the following fields: The Arts, Global and Humanitarian Studies, Technology and/or Sustainability, Ecological Studies, Expeditionary Education, or Liberal Arts, Other (by approval). Each student will select a graduation advisor to assist them with preparing their portfolios to ‘defend’ their particular area of distinction.”

Again this year, our beloved great hall, Meyer Hall, filled with fellow students, family, faculty, and many far-traveled relatives. It also filled with authenticity and emotion for this annual rite of passage. Students fulfill graduation requirements by demonstrating publicly before their peers that they have embodied the core values of the school.

Emerson M. '24 speaks during her Senor Defense Presentation - May 6, 2024

The 2024 Program of Leadership, Challenge, Global Perspective, and Embracing Failure
Emerson M. '24 set the tone on the first day, her voice filled with conviction as she explained her approach to leadership. "Leadership is about bringing people together for a common purpose," she explained, linking her efforts to boost school spirit through pep rallies to the broader principles of inclusion, friendship, and support taught at Grauer. Her talk culminated in a powerful acknowledgment of her multicultural roots and the broader historical context of her education: “Our stories are not just our own; they illuminate the past and unfold beyond our imagination.” She spoke of the "opportunities ancestors could only have dreamed of,” and left a lingering thought with the audience: "True leaders are those who empower others."

As each day unfolded, more seniors shared their journeys. Carson B. '24 discussed his challenges and discoveries within STEM and expeditionary learning. He expressed his gratitude towards his family and mentors, particularly highlighting the encouragement from his mother, who he described as the "most powerful woman I know."

The presentation by Kai A. '24 reflected on her global upbringing and the compassionate insights gained through her diverse experiences. She recalled her expeditions with fondness, especially her time in Kenya which deepened her appreciation for her most prized core value: compassion. Her story was a tapestry of cultural transitions, each move shaping her into a confident, worldly individual ready to graduate.

Kai A. '24 performs a song during her Senior Defense Presentation - May 7, 2024

Aiden B. '24 thanked his teacher Louise for "failing him so many times," capturing a critical aspect of the educational philosophy at Grauer: embracing failure as a pathway to mastery learning and resilience. This candid acknowledgment revealed a deeper truth about our school's approach to education: challenges are not just obstacles, but opportunities for growth in our “learn by discovery” approach and our core value of perseverance. At Grauer, we don’t really talk about failure, anyway. Mastery learning means simply: we’re not done yet, still on the path, and Aiden and classmates will all take this sense of our perseverance core value with them wherever they go.

Gratitude is clearly the most pervasive, unwritten core value of the week. The love and appreciation for the community permeated every speech. One student credited me as having created a "magical school," and virtually every teacher was cited for fostering an environment where students felt safe and valued. This sentiment was echoed in the gratitude expressed towards the teachers and peers in attendance, emphasizing the supportive network that had been pivotal to their development. The expression of love and kindness in and among groups was ubiquitous and the ultimate validation of the enormous devotion of our faculty and staff. To witness this is to understand on a deeper level the transformative impacts that gratitude can have on individuals and communities.

Carson B. '24 speaks during his Senior Defense Presentation - May 6, 2024

High school is an incredibly dynamic and impactful period of life. As the defenses progressed over the five mornings, the impact of the school’s ethos on these young adults was unmistakable and clear. They spoke not just as students ready to graduate, but as individuals shaped by their diverse experiences and relationships at Grauer. Each presentation, rich with personal anecdotes and thoughtful quotes, was a testament to the profound impact of a supportive and challenging educational experience. Students devised their own honors projects, wrote scores of grade defenses, traveled the world with peers and beloved teachers all of whom grew to be like family, suffered and recovered from criticism, illness and failure, self-advocated, participated in dozens of gratitude circles, recovered trust after betrayal, found “things that spark joy,” and learned this: people we love “make us feel limitless.”

The Four Takeaways
Here are four takeaways from this year’s senior presentations. First, all teens go through the changes but, at Grauer, they do so in close proximity to all classmates and their mentor/teachers. No hiding in anonymous, large school hallways. Our students learn to deal with all types and to stick with one another as we all go through those changes. 

Shaun B. '24 performs a song on his guitar during his Senior Defense Presentation - May 9, 2024

Second, our teachers’ focus on evaluating core values every week, along with our core values portfolios, enable students to see that living in accordance with universal values gives them deeper intrinsic purpose, connection, and joy than grades or praise ever could. 

Third, our senior defenses are a powerful testament to the role of teachers as life mentors.  One student devoted a large section of gratitude to a teacher he never even had a class with! Powerful teachers are first and foremost trusted mentors.

And fourth, the senior presentations reveal that a school that travels together on challenging expeditions creates the bonds of a lifetime. As Colin E. '24 noted, “Grauer is a great school, but Expeditions make it an insane school. They bring us so much closer to each other than I ever expected.”

Another Year Come and Gone:  Always Better
In thinking about concluding, I will be honest and say that at no point did I ever think about what the core values of my high school were, much less routinely write, discuss, and attempt to embody such values for life. The ceremony I engaged in made me feel more like a prop than a real player. Alternatively, the continual expressions of “love” from our seniors, which would have been foreign to many students I knew in high school, was pervasive all week and was at times awe-inspiring.

But the real testament is to the long-shared path of this annual ceremony. Programs like senior graduation defenses are not merely implemented and then great. In our school, students can re-work their work until they have mastered it. The same goes with each program at a great organization. 

Amber J. '24 performs a dance routine during her Senior Defense Presentation - May 9, 2024

This simple Senior Graduation Defense program has been refined year after year, mainly by our Leadership Team. Our school practice has been to debrief this program (and all programs) after it occurs, never let it rest on laurels, make notes on ways to improve or refine it, and add that collective wisdom into the next round, the next year.

My gratitude also goes to our school Leadership Team for “keeping it real.” The insistence on “always better” has been relentless. Audiences have grown, and we have added new areas for distinction, such as Social Justice/Activism and Fitness/Athletics. What we have now is something like a masterpiece, though it must never be taken for granted. It must continue to evolve as times change.

Senior graduation defenses are not only a testament to the mastery learning process our students have taken to heart, but to our faculty, as well: Our faculty members all believe deeply in our core values which permeate all programs and have consistently honed their use of them. The upshot of these mornings was the candid illustration of growth and gratitude, leaving a mark on the hearts of everyone present. Eli D. '24 concluded on Friday, saying, "I learned the essence of teamwork and resilience," which capped off a great week, a great program, a great education, and exceptional leadership.  

Eli D. '24 speaks during his Senior Defense Presentation - May 10, 2024

As I looked up at Eli, something like six feet tall, and best remembered him as a typical middle schooler, I could only be overwhelmed at what I had learned from this class all week.

Worldwide, students study a required curriculum where they are fed facts and learn computations. But taking these learnings to heart means living them, turning theory and values into actionable daily living. Turning theory into action is our greatest achievement as teachers.

There was nothing performative or forced about what our seniors showed us—they showed up with their authentic, vulnerable selves. The audience, including students from all grade levels, responded in kind during the Q&A follow-up sessions, with appreciation. 

The audience reacts to the humor in one of the Senior Defense Presentations - May 9, 2024

Programs that any organization can call its own take years of commitment, perseverance, and refinement. That’s what makes a program ceremony, worthy of celebrating. A school is exactly as great as its graduates. Meyer Hall, swelling with emotions and applause all week long, was a testament to a path well-traveled by the confident, articulate, passionate Grauer School Class of 2024, and their mentors and parents. Their stories create a legacy of their transition through secondary school, perhaps the most transformative time of a human life, and forward into a world that needs them now.

In this high-paced and complex world, it’s good to slow down the reflection piece and to work on that. Do all you can in ceremony. See you at graduation.

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Kai D. '24 receives congratulatory hugs after his presentation - May 10, 2024

Emerson M. '24 speaks during her Senor Defense Presentation - May 6, 2024

Kai A. '24 performs a song during her Senior Defense Presentation - May 7, 2024

Carson B. '24 speaks during his Senior Defense Presentation - May 6, 2024

Shaun B. '24 performs a song on his guitar during his Senior Defense Presentation - May 9, 2024

Amber J. '24 performs a dance routine during her Senior Defense Presentation - May 9, 2024

Eli D. '24 speaks during his Senior Defense Presentation - May 10, 2024

The audience reacts to the humor in one of the Senior Defense Presentations - May 9, 2024

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