Like many of you, I received the news last week that the Board of Trustees made the decision not to purchase The Kanner Building and 55 acres at Rosewood . There was the instantaneous rush of disappointment and then my eternal optimism kicked in. In Dr. Wendy Mogul’s popular parenting book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, a guide based on Jewish teachings, the author helps parents to create a positive world view for their children in a culture of indulgence. She urges parents to let their children experience failure. In her list of nine blessings, she includes frustration, which is probably the one most descriptive of our community at this time. Her universal message is that in order to succeed, one must fall down, skin a knee and then move forward. We learn from difficult challenges. I know that my parents taught me that life is not always smooth!
It is true that that there are collective bandages on our knees from previous disappointments and now on our elbows as well. As the Board pursues new options for a permanent Cardin campus, it is important for each of us to be resourceful and resilient. Frustration can be an impetus for personal growth. As Rabbi Stuart Seltzer so aptly put it in the press release, we need to concentrate not on where we are located, but on what we do so well.
If you take a good look at our new tag line, Above all, learning, it seems prophetic. Let’s remember that Cardin is an exceptional educational institution with wonderful families, intelligent, curious students, committed faculty, visionary administrators and a Board of Trustees with the School’s best interest at heart.
Margi Hoffman
Director of Development & Marketing
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