Parents Weekend Message Stresses Continuum of Education

“Your children are wonderful, but they are not perfect. They are becoming.”

 

Headmaster Temba Maqubela, in a Parents Weekend address, was referring to a message repeated during each weekday chapel service by Groton Chaplain Gil Birney.

 

The chaplain’s words, explained the headmaster, “implore us to focus not so much on what the students have been; rather the focus should be on what they are becoming. That is the essence of what school is about. Parenting also is focusing on what children are becoming.”

 

The reassurance that Groton students are constantly evolving—becoming—ran through Mr. Maqubela’s remarks. He referred to education as a continuum, with students first bonding with their school, then learning to study hard, and eventually recognizing their strongest areas of potential. He stressed the need for “laughter, forgiveness, kindness” when addressing the imperfections that inevitably arise while children are on the road to becoming their future selves.

 

The headmaster’s speech was a highlight of a particularly well attended Parents Weekend, October 25–27. Hundreds of Groton families traveled from around the country and the globe to immerse themselves in the life of the Circle. Parents attended a total of nearly 2,500 conferences with their children's teachers and advisers—an important part of the weekend activities, which also included speakers, parent receptions, athletic games, and performances by student musical groups.

 

Very few parents were absent, partly because of the school’s determination, in the name of inclusion, to make travel possible for all. “No matter where they come from, Groton will find a way to bring them here,” Mr. Maqubela said. “Let’s have everyone be a part of the Groton embrace.”

 

The headmaster’s talk also included stories from the Imagine Scholar program, which took students and the Maqubelas to South Africa last summer, and the friendly “dance-off” between Groton students (from all over the globe) and students from South Africa and Botswana. “A simple dance can open doors and break barriers, as it did for these students who hailed from a dozen different countries,” he said. “Their commonality was speaking the same language, moving to the same rhythms, and just being teenagers whose connection was genuine interest in one another and authenticity. In that environment, far away from any running water or electricity, they showed us a glimpse of their future. They were simply, becoming!"

 

During the address, one unexpected burst of enthusiasm greeted Mr. Maqubela when he told parents that he confiscates cell phones when students use them inappropriately in the Schoolhouse. He keeps the phones until the end of the academic day. “I’m not going to stop,” he said, as spontaneous applause erupted.

 

The headmaster also praised Groton’s faculty. “Vuyelwa and I are veterans of six independent schools, and we have yet to come across a more dedicated group of teachers,” he said. “And we have been in this profession for more than thirty-five years each.”

 

After the headmaster’s address, parents watched athletic contests; attended sessions about technology, community engagement, global education, and college counseling; met other parents in their children's form (grade) at receptions; and topped off the evening with student performances in the Campbell Performing Arts Center. While Sunday brought rain, the busiest day, Saturday, was set against the most perfect backdrop—crisp blue skies, moderate fall temperatures, and colorful foliage.