Dear friends,
Welcome back from vacation! A week later and it already seems like our winter break was ages ago. Life at Rice does not “wind up” or “wind down”. There is no slow period! One day Rice is not in session and everything is slow; the next day it is bursting at the seams with life in the classrooms and in athletics. There is only one speed at Rice…and that is fast. It is important for our students (and staff) to take time to reflect on what is happening. These are formative years! I continually advise the students not to take their lives for granted but to cherish the moments of learning and other activities as they are happening.
A visit around the building today brought me into the library which was a beehive of activity. Students who study together inspire one another to do well in school. That’s what I saw as I chatted with students working in groups or sitting at the same tables studying and doing homework. The computer lab off the library was also packed with a class working on a term paper.
In the course of this visit, I mentioned to one student that the secret of writing a term paper is to find a topic that you enjoy! If you are given the choice on what to write, find something that you want to know more about. If you find your topic boring you will have a hard time getting through it. I learned this lesson from my master’s thesis director. It took me a long time to find the right subject, but once I did, there was no stopping me from getting it done. I wanted to know the ending!
Many things happened in this jammed-packed week that are worth noting. To begin with, we sponsored “High School for a Day” for fifth through eighth graders. The middle school students mixed in with our own students and were offered interesting activities throughout the day. Around 40 local students participated in drama, music, athletics, digital imaging, campus ministry, and ice cream making! It was a great day for Rice and I believe these students were inspired to see Rice as a viable option for their high school years. The day was put on mostly by the teachers of Rice. They organized and ran the day. It was a great grassroots effort to help increase the numbers of students at Rice, and I am thankful to the teachers for their dedication and work.
One of the things those middle school students witnessed was Rice’s annual one act drama play. This year the drama club performed “The Bottle Imp”. A number of Rice students are going to perform this play at the annual one act drama festival. At this festival, students from throughout Vermont compete with one another for the best performance. “The Bottle Imp” was also performed for the general public Wednesday night at St. Michael’s College. I am proud of the students who performed or played musical instruments for the performance. It was a great night for Rice. A nod goes to Ms. Annalisa Parent for organizing and directing this play.
The following was read over the intercom this morning as part of our daily announcements: “At the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, the Rice Girl’s Ski Team ended their season competing in the Alpine States meet against fourteen of Vermont’s best high school ski teams. Cheered on by a wonderful group of Rice students and supporters, the team was in fourth place after the GS race, and finished 7th overall. Individually, Katie Cutting won both the slalom and GS races, Katie Bernhardt finished 13th in the GS and Emily Cutting placed 15th in the GS and 11th in the slalom. Other important team finishers include Kristen Thompson, Molly Flynn and Jackie Spitler. The Cutting sisters, Emily and Katie, both qualified for the Eastern Alpine High School Championships, which are being held at Attitash Ski Resort in New Hampshire from March 12th to 14th” (written by Ms. Mari Goodridge Miller, AD). Congratulations to all of our skiing athletes, and especially to Emily and Katie Cutting for qualifying for another important race.
There is another chapter to this skiing event that reflects the values we teach at Rice. At the end of the races it looked as though Rice placed 2nd. Our girls were even given medals and a plaque. Later it was decided to look at the scores again, and lo and behold, a mistake was made and Rice did not finish second. Here is why I am writing about this: our girls were very gracious in giving back the medals and plaque. One of the members of the team told me that while there were some tears, it was the right thing to do. Now that is sportsmanship! Dare I say that in some other sports this would have turned ugly? I congratulate our girls not only for an outstanding season but more importantly doing the right thing with dignity and grace. Now that is what Rice is about! In conclusion, the quote of the week comes from John Gardner and sums up the girls’ actions: “Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess.” Our girls did a great job professing the values they have learned at home and at Rice!
Fr. Bernard Bourgeois, Principal