Grateful, As Always, for GUS

This is a strange time, and yet we have found comfort in what has always been at the center of the GUS experience: relationships and community. At the beginning of the month, we hosted an outdoor event for local families. The Woodland Creatures Night Hike, the brain child of Nancy Hartmann, made possible by Holly Shepherd, Lara Jardullo, Dawn Curtis, and many GUS teachers and parents, was just a wonderful night. The trail looked beautiful all lit up and laughter could be heard echoing through the trees. Yet, what made the night so truly special was just the feeling we all had. It was that GUS magic we all know and love. It was that joy and love that defines the GUS experience, that filled our hearts and warmed our spirits on a just about perfect night. 

It made me long for all of our other wonderful GUS events and traditions, especially as we approach Bread Day, which we would have celebrated tomorrow. As Charlie Mauk and Wallace Douglas stated in their 2019 Graduation Speeches - how are we going to survive without bread day? I was meeting with new parents last week and lamenting the events that we had lost. What was amazing to hear was that those new parents didn’t need the big events to feel that GUS magic. They feel it every day. It’s a feeling they get from a wave at drop off, in an email from a teacher, and, most importantly, in the voice of their child as they share stories from their day. What became clear to me is the GUS magic truly exists in every interaction that makes up a child’s experience. It’s in a new friend, in a “you’ve got this” from a teacher, and in a letter from a partner class. It’s at recess and in math class, as we live and learn together. Every day that we are together, in person and even online, eases the difficulties presented by a complicated world and fills us with joy. Once again, I think just how lucky we all are. With everything that is going on, more than ever, I am so grateful for the GUS community.

So during this time of thanks, thank you to students, teachers, families, alumni, and friends of GUS. Each of you brings something special to our community that helps the warmth of the GUS magic grow. Although we may be distant, our shared love of GUS continues to bring us together. So, while our Thanksgiving celebrations will look different this year - whether you are near, far, masked-up and socially-distanced, or virtual - as you reach for a roll or butter that piece of bread, may you think of GUS and give thanks not just for the big moments, but for all the little ones spent with wonderful people that make the GUS experience so uniquely special.

Happy Thanskgiving,

Gretchen Forsyth
Head of School