The Gavel: Thoughts from the Board Chair
Source/Author: Tom Andrews, MD, Shorecrest Board of Trustees Chair
May 07, 2015
For work, I travel about 20,000 miles per year around Tampa Bay, and if there is one thing I’ve noticed (except never-ending construction!) it is the backs of cars and trucks. Americans are particularly good about putting stickers and decals on their autos. From Saving the Turtles to Tea Party zealots or Rangers/Airborne – Rangers lead the way! – to Ironman finishers, we like to tell those around us who we are. A little taste of our identities.
But there is one group for whom the identity is not fully discovered – our students!
Perhaps you caught the New York Times article by Alexandra Levit in March, “Make Way for Generation Z”. I felt a strong connection to the description she made and the students I observe.
For those of you unfamiliar with Generation Z, it consists of those born in the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. What she describes is a group of teenagers who are independent, completely comfortable in the digital world but prefer face-to-face interaction, globally oriented and not needing any kind of helicopter (parent)!
This is what the world desperately needs! A generation of creative, independent citizens eager to change the way the world works for the better and not intimidated by the power of the global way in which all business seems to work. A group not interested in personal power, but in shaping the world to be a safer and more tolerant place.
You can rest assured that your Shorecrest student will be well positioned to be a leader in this generation! I invite you to pay particular attention to the graduating Class of 2015 and their destinations. This is why we sacrifice to send our children to an independent school! More importantly, this is why independent schools are so successful. They adapt quickly and allow our students to acquire the tools necessary for success.
