Head of School Letter: The Power of Imagination

Last weekend we hosted the Shorecrest Gala presented by American Integrity Insurance Group. Nearly 450 Shorecrest community members gathered at the Vinoy to celebrate Shorecrest and "The Power of Imagination," a theme inspired by the specialness of our school - the Shorecrest Spark. 

Imagination is a current that flows through every student, teacher and classroom at Shorecrest. It is at the core of what we do. 

It's imagination that turns blocks into boats in The Experiential School. Students start to create, to build and to tell stories. Their teachers use that spark and build an inquiry around it, threading math, engineering, and literacy concepts into the students' imaginative play. Imagination then extends beyond the classroom walls onto the playground, where a real wooden ship is constructed as a repository for future creative play and imaginary games. 

Imagination is what enables a senior in our robotics program to create a compression sleeve designed to assist astronauts, and it wins numerous academic awards, propelling him into new arenas. Imagination is central to the incredible artistic performances that we see on the JRT stage. Imagination inspires the athlete shooting baskets with an imaginary clock counting down, and making the winning shot at the buzzer. 

Imagining an outcome - whether it is the last minute shot, the robotics device, the lead role - is the fuel that powers us to achieve. Motivation comes from the mental pictures of dreams becoming reality. Practice, rehearsal, resilience and hard work make it happen - but imagination is the starting point - the spark. 

I think about the people one hundred years ago who imagined a school they called Shorecrest, an outdoor school for children in St. Pete — a place where young minds could grow, where curiosity was nurtured, where dreams took flight. And they didn’t just imagine it; they made it happen.

Today we stand on the foundation they built; and we are the ones who must imagine the Shorecrest of the future. I think about those students, parents and teachers who will look back at us and appreciate the imagination we had today; the vision we had for what Shorecrest could be, and the work we are willing to put in to make it a reality. 

Imagination is what allows us to see what is possible and also calls us to make it real and to make it happen. Through the incredible generosity of our community at the Shorecrest Gala, our collective imagination for Shorecrest can become a reality. Not just for one child or one program, but for generations of Shorecrest students to come. 

All the best, 

Nancy