Head of School’s Notebook

January 24, 2025

I welcome the opportunity to pause and reflect at the end of the week as it is my strong belief that the story we tell and the meaning we make from our life experiences is what shapes how we see ourselves and the world.

Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Multicultural Programming Coordinator Kadeine Peterson, student leaders, and teachers, we began our week in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy by exploring the theme of “breaking bread” as a tool for transformation. Throughout the day, we listened to Dr. King’s words and I was reminded that despite tremendous fear, threat, and intimidation, Dr. King inspired hope by focusing on the dream of a world bound together in a mutual embrace of dignity and justice. In my own small way, the attempt to create a meaningful and hopeful framing of the challenges each week is a way to honor Dr. King’s legacy where he shaped the collective narrative by directing us to a hopeful higher ideal. In his own words, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

The theme of breaking bread felt especially relevant in our residential context. Companionship is one of the founding ideals of the School and literally means to be “with bread” as a true companion delights in the quotidian moments as they are paradoxically the most profound. We are so fortunate to be a school where we have a shared appreciation for the simple magic alive in each moment. For me, this was especially evident as I worked shoulder to shoulder with our students to plant a vegetable garden at Mesa House on Monday as part of our MLK Day programming. We broke apart hardened soil, put our full body weight behind our shovels, and remarked about how satisfying the work felt – perhaps we were all relieved to have something so simple and real to devote our attention towards. And yet, just beyond the simplicity was a hopeful act of sprinkling tiny seeds which may or may not take root. In the spirit of companionship, we plants seeds and break bread together nourishing the dignity within and between each of us. On our own small scale, we are emulating Dr. King who sowed seeds of love, hope, and justice knowing full well that he might not see them bloom. Fortunately, at Cate we see evidence of growth in our students each day.

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It feels poetic that my week began in the soil and ended in the Bay Area where over 200 members of the extended Cate family gathered to break bread and delight in how the seeds planted during their Cate years have taken root. These simple, hopeful acts of coming together in a time of upheaval is our small way to honor Dr. King’s dream and our founding ideals.