Focusing on Respect: Convocation Culminates Opening Days
"How many of you know who Mr. Rogers was," asked Headmaster Drew Casertano when addressing students, faculty, and staff at Convocation on the evening of Thursday, September 13th. Gathered together formally in the Flagler Memorial Chapel to reflect on the upcoming 2018-2019 academic year, members of the audience began to raise their hands.
Each year Millbrook chooses a core value as a theme to shape community focus and reflection. Millbrook is focusing on respect for the 2018-2019 school year, and keeping this top-of-mind Mr. Casertano went on to share more details about the life of Mr. Rogers:
"I think Mr. Rogers would say that respect is synonymous with love, which begins with love for oneself. Respect is a love that helps us to become our best selves. It is a love that helps us to help others to become their best selves. It is a love that connects us to each other, that is essential for healthy relationships and necessary for us to become a community, one that will support us, all of us, through good and bad."
He went on to discuss what "respect looks like at Millbrook," and challenged everyone to not only treat themselves with respect but to also meet each interaction that they have each day with unconditional love and accountability. "Holding ourselves accountable to our community expectations," said Headmaster Casertano, supports our community in being a "safe, healthy, open, and inclusive place to learn and grow."
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Each year Millbrook chooses a core value as a theme to shape community focus and reflection. Millbrook is focusing on respect for the 2018-2019 school year, and keeping this top-of-mind Mr. Casertano went on to share more details about the life of Mr. Rogers:
"I think Mr. Rogers would say that respect is synonymous with love, which begins with love for oneself. Respect is a love that helps us to become our best selves. It is a love that helps us to help others to become their best selves. It is a love that connects us to each other, that is essential for healthy relationships and necessary for us to become a community, one that will support us, all of us, through good and bad."
He went on to discuss what "respect looks like at Millbrook," and challenged everyone to not only treat themselves with respect but to also meet each interaction that they have each day with unconditional love and accountability. "Holding ourselves accountable to our community expectations," said Headmaster Casertano, supports our community in being a "safe, healthy, open, and inclusive place to learn and grow."
With a deepened understanding of what respect means at Millbrook and beyond, clear individual and community goals, and excitement for the year ahead, students, faculty, and staff exited the Flagler Memorial Chapel and gathered in the dining hall for the first formal dinner of the school year.
Convocation is one of the many Millbrook traditions that ties the past and present together, and with the 2018-2019 academic year now formally underway and the core value of respect at the forefront, Millbrook is ready for what is sure to be the best year yet.
Convocation is one of the many Millbrook traditions that ties the past and present together, and with the 2018-2019 academic year now formally underway and the core value of respect at the forefront, Millbrook is ready for what is sure to be the best year yet.
Visit our online photo gallery or our Millbrook in Motion page for images and video from all of Millbrook's Opening Days traditions, including Convocation. You can also read Headmaster Drew Casertano's full Convocation Address on the Special Ink section of our website.
