Education of the Heart

Erik Alfieri '09 returned to school yesterday evening to deliver the Chapel talk for the Young Alumni Chapel and Dinner, one of my favorite Saint David's Thanksgiving traditions.

The Chapel overflowed with nearly 200 of our eighth graders, high school age alumni and teachers. Erik, a recent graduate of Georgetown University, began his talk with this quote from the Dalai Lama: "When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts." Erik detailed how education of the heart has always been foundational at Saint David's, and how it is rare to find in other schools.

He noted that our boys' foundations are built through education of the heart when Saint David's teachers guide them to make informed, moral decisions; when our boys are taught to play sports "with grace and to compete with a sense of generosity and spirit;" and in the practice of Chapel, which provides daily opportunity for reflection.

He likened the way the school educates the heart to the scaffolding, tools and equipment of our construction project. They will be gone one day, but what will remain will be the integral structure: "This is like the education at Saint David's. The foundation remains, and this is what is important."

“Education is foremost the ability to think critically and tackle the issues you will encounter in your next steps,” he concluded.

After Erik's talk, we enjoyed a delicious dinner during which our eighth graders talked to alumni at secondary schools they are interested in attending. The dinner concluded with presentation of a check to Cheryl Anderson of Save the Children, for the $25,000 our boys raised last year in support of the Saint David's Kalina School in Tigray, Ethiopia.

What a wonderful evening with these alumni whose comportment and generous natures never cease to impress me. It is true that Saint David's takes seriously the education of the heart, and it shows.

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