Springs Celebrates Opening Day

Taking the stage to thunderous applause, new Head of School Dr. Sharon Howell welcomed 309 “of the finest students in the country” to the 2016-17 school year at Indian Springs’ all-school Opening Meeting.
 
“This is, without question, one of the happiest moments of my life,” said Howell. “I have two children, and I got married, so that’s saying something. It is such an honor and delight to be here, and I’ve been waiting for this day, this first day of school, for eight months.”
 
A literary scholar from Massachusetts, whose background is mainly in higher education, Howell said she is “very proud” to be Springs’ first female head of school.
 
Howell told students she believes that the two biggest issues of our time are gender equity and climate change, which “connect inescapably to other global injustices such as racism and income inequality.”
 
“What I saw in higher education made me want to work with you, to figure out what we can do as a society to prepare you better for a life in which you are going to need to navigate ever more complex, ever more interconnected people, ideas, and systems,” she said. “I believe the only way to do that is to start giving you real responsibility, and expecting you to rise to the occasion and take ownership of your education and life.”

Greeted with more cheers and applause, Howell said she is not convinced, in the light of recent research, “that homework is doing what we want it to do, and think it might be better to start our school day a little later."
 
“I want more than anything to foster here at Springs a culture of respect, kindness, and inclusion. That means understanding that each of us brings some unique quality and value to the table, and that it is part of being an educated person to recognize what that means; whether it’s being sensitive to which gender pronoun a fellow student prefers, or recognizing that not everyone shares your convictions, or just understanding how dangerous it is to assume anything about one another.”
 
She wants students “to feel the satisfaction of moving out of the shallows, into the depths,” Springs’ school-wide theme for the year based on the writings of first Director Dr. Louis E. Armstrong.
 
“Doc’s writings are full of wisdom and wit, and far ahead of their time ….” she said. “I hope you will come to the end of this year with your own definition of depth—your own insight into how your mind works and how you can cultivate depth of experience.”
 
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190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.

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