by Isha Strasser
[This talk was given at our New Family Orientation on September 1, 2022.]
Welcome to New Family Orientation!
Let’s begin our orientation with the word itself. According to the etymological definition, the word “orientation” originated in the early 1800s, and referred to the eastward facing direction of a building or landmark. By the late 1800s, orientation took on a meaning related specifically to the points on a compass. The word continued to evolve to relate to the “action of determining one’s mental bearings.” With this shift of directionality, the word turned in on itself.
The most recent evolution of this word that I found, related to Orienteering; which are classes you can take to learn how to read a map, how to use a compass, how to venture outward and return back to where you’ve been.
Reflecting on the roots of this word, reminded me of the importance of orienting ourselves both to our outer surroundings–to this room and those within it, this building, this land–and to orient ourselves inwardly–toward an inner self, or soul, or whatever name you give to your interior domain. Here at FSMH we do both.
Before we share a moment of silence as is the traditional Quaker way, let’s do some orientating. Look around the room and see your fellow new family members, teachers, administrators, and friends. Let’s look outside at your new beautiful campus where many memories are waiting to be made. We acknowledge the Lenni-Lenape as the original people of this land and we recognize their continuing connection and relationship to this place too.
We have each come from many different directions, and yet wherever we came from, we find ourselves gathered together here, in this place, at this time, on this land. What we do and how we do it, is up to us. Now that we’ve oriented ourselves outwardly, let’s take a moment to turn inward and share a moment of silence together.
We do gather from many different directions, different belief systems, different orientations. What we share is the choice to come to Friends School Mullica Hill. We’ve all agreed to enter into this contract together—in one direction, on an outward level, that is our Evergreen Contracts or our employment contracts.
On another level, a more inward direction, is what some call our sacred contracts. Our invisible contracts to each other; our relationships and responsibilities with each other.
Some of these contracts and relationships are more clear than others—you agree to entrust us with your child’s education, to invest your time and money and hope in us—we agree to do all we can to educate your child, to invest our hearts and minds and all of our skills in this sacred calling of teaching and administering at this school. All of the relationships that we develop here in the periphery of this school are clarified and made more intentional by the Quaker guiding testimonies: Simplicity. Peace. Integrity. Community. Equality. Stewardship.
In the brochure in your packet you’ll find the testimonies. A great deal of care was poured into defining them as simply and truly as possible. Let’s orient ourselves to these, and in them, find a shared compass to guide us toward ideals that are universal and inclusive.
When we get turned around or our priorities get a little lost in the daily grind, these testimonies can shine light on a way forward. This is not to forget where we came from, our unique ancestry or religion, whatever native language we may speak or country we come from, who we are or how we identify–our diversity gives us strength, just as with biodiversity in nature. We honor and strengthen our differences together.
And so, in our coming together today, we recognize our mundane and sacred contracts as a community. We will show up to each other every day. We’ll celebrate achievements and triumphs; we’ll navigate challenges. What we have that makes us unique as a school are guiding Quaker principles in a language we can approach from whatever direction we have come. The testimonies will help orient our way forward together; on sunny days, rainy days, hot or cold days, days we look forward to, days we wish we could avoid–this is what we’ll do together over the next year, and many more years to come (you do know your Evergreen contract renews automatically, right? If not, we’ll cover that today!).
What I want to say is: you have come from the right direction, made the right choice, and now we choose to move forward together into this new year toward our mission (also in your brochure!) of empowering our students, your children, to achieve their full potential, to become responsible global citizens who have received a comprehensive academic program infused with Quaker values in a diverse and inclusive learning community.
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