By Reed Gabhart, Head of Goshen Campus

After a nice, LONG Holiday Break, the kids came back full of energy (and stories!) and ready to roll on Tuesday morning! And while it took some of us older folks a few days to get back in the groove, we’re off and running again for the second semester. Highlights this week include welcoming some new students to school in kindergarten, 6th, and 7th grades, a new Projects session starting, which is always fun, and the 8th grade getting to take a rescheduled field trip today to the Speed Art Museum. They got to see the touring Picasso to Pollock art exhibit, along with the permanent collection, which I’m sure was fascinating. And perhaps less exciting to the students, their second quarter progress reports are being wrapped up this week and will be coming to parents electronically next week. Yay!  

Another event I was excited to attend was 8th Grade Night for our basketball teams on Tuesday night. While both games were really exciting in their own rights (including the girls’ heartbreaking loss coming down to the final shot rimming out!), what I was most impressed with was the hustle and spirit our players showed. They are obviously well-coached and played like their collective hair was on fire! And in the boys’ game, Coach Tony Butler must have delivered some “Gipper Speech” (tell the kids to Google that) as they came out and ripped off a 17-0 run to open their game. This included a falling-down three pointer from 8th grader RJ Ballenger who banked in a triple while getting fouled in the process. No wonder he went to the “arrow in the quiver” dramatics afterwards! And while the boys won handily, and the crowd was electric (and loud!), I am always inspired by how much our students care about each other and being part of a team. The halftime ceremony honoring all our 8th graders and their parents was touching and I saw more than a few tears in some of their eyes. These relationships and lessons learned through athletics and teamwork are priceless – and a little more important than winning in my book (don’t tell Coach Butler that, though).