More than a few confused, lost, weary, discouraged and disillusioned travelers find themselves meandering over to our side of the road to cross our bridge.  Irritated and impatient, one may stand before me and ask, “Where is Neverland? I can’t see it…” It is then that I look deeply into the eyes of this lost soul and with a hint of impatience say… “You are on the wrong side of the road, this is Everland… this is EV-ER-LAND…” and…as if to prove my point …a rumbling noise from Upper Yard gets louder, and a dust cloud gathers and rapidly descends upon us. Just then, out of nowhere, William, Gus, Kyle, Inochi, and Beau, all apparently hanging onto to William’s go-cart, rain coat, or long hair….appear… and fly by and down the creek…

It is Everland, where Nico gives a weather report while someone pets his rabbit. In the background, Miranda recites Shakespeare and Hyemin translates poetry.

It is Everland where the food is home grown; Heather is nearby serving desserts or pancakes, and Libang, dressed in his soccer uniform and wearing red cleats, eats all the leftovers from the garden. It is Everland where Yuchen and Zhi stand by reassuringly and Tammy encourages everyone to play their hearts out for Everland….Ah yes!…Everland…

2,860 acres for-EVER preserved... a Mid-LAND for students and adults, where Grass Mountain is timeless and the place is sacred to the Chumash. It is this side of the road where a student finds a teacher… who has an idea or a thesis….a Midland where teenagers trust adults and where they have jobs to do and they do them.…where students learn the difference between self reliance and self indulgence…. where they want to belong and need to belong as they direct themselves towards college.

Jill Redl might add that Midlanders practice failing better… and better all the time….and in the process faculty and students learn to be themselves and find themselves.

Our Everland experience is something we find at Midland and take with us. We hold it close like the important relationships that have shaped us.

In Robore Virtus, in the Oak there is strength…and there is strength and playfulness in the class of 2010…. We started the year with Storm Jameson’s words, and I end today with this message to these seniors, these Oaks, who are about to face the challenges that certainly lie ahead.

On challenge Jameson says:

I believe that only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present. Most of us spend 59 minutes an hour living in the past, with regret for lost joys, or shame for things badly done (both utterly useless and weakening)-or in a future which we either long for or dread. Yet the past is gone beyond prayer, and every minute you spend in the vain effort to anticipate the future is a moment lost. There is only one world, the world pressing against you at this minute. There is only one minute in which you are alive, this minute-here and now. The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle. Which is exactly what it is –a miracle and unrepeatable.

I trust that every minute at Midland is a miracle; face this life knowing that you have lived at Everland… and you are always…right where you want to be…

April 25, 2010

Parents, friends, alumni, alumnae, and to all the Munger family; welcome home to the celebration of the life of Kathy Munger.

Marguerite and I are grateful to have known Kathy, and we are thankful for the way in which she reached out to us so warmly, genuinely, and wisely as we began our Midland journey four years ago. We miss her reassuring presence.

For those families who don’t know, Carl and Kathy Munger lived and worked at Midland from 1962 until Carl retired as Headmaster in 1979.  They raised Kate, Jim, Kerry, Ben and Louisa while Kathy worked as the school dietitian and food service coordinator. She served left-overs on Sunday evening; she was the chapel organist and piano player, and the director of several Rogers and Hammerstein Thanksgiving musical productions. She drove regularly to town to pick up supplies on weekly runs; she served graham crackers and milk after athletic events and she hosted reading clubs. In true Midland fashion, Kathy would take students to scour the tomato fields and walnut orchards in Solvang after the local harvest.  It is clear that her Midland days were spent, fully, freely and willingly.   

Kathy loved books and praised the library refurbishing; most recently she returned to campus to oversee the re-construction of Stillman Hall. She knew that Carl worried about health inspectors shutting down the kitchen, as much as I did; we were both happy and relieved when Jim Quick ’68 finished the construction just before school opened last September.

I have said before that Kathy’s Midland roots run deep as any Oak, and we sit in her shadow. Through her we see the true spirit of Midland’s past, present and future.  Kathy taught us that to serve our families and to serve others is to serve ourselves. She reminded us often that it is a gift to live simply and a gift to be free. She will forever be Midland’s Great and Grand Mother. 

Naturalist John Muir leaves us with the blessing and lesson for today...Muir writes:

Let children walk with Nature,

let them see the beautiful blending and communions of death and life,

their joyous inseparable unity,

as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountain and streams of our blessed

star,

At 4:30 PM on Monday, November 16th, the power went out on Figueroa Mountain Road. With daylight quickly fading, I walked over to the darkening kitchen where BG Kresse ’68 stood pondering the situation while preparing tacos.  He knew we could not count on the power company to restore electricity before 6:00 PM, and we had a short window of time to make adjustments before the assembly bell rang and the students lined up for dinner.  While BG went off to find a small generator to power-up a few light bulbs, Laurie Munger, Phil Hasseljian, Rob Hopkinson and I collected lamps, trimmed the wicks, washed the globes, and fueled the bases.  Darkness descended on Middle Yard, and lamp-lit Stillman Hall transported the school back to the “kerosene era.” The community enjoyed one of BG’s best dinners; student-led crews cleaned up without missing a beat, and we were right on schedule for the start of evening “Status.”

            Lap Masters gave students the option of studying in their cabins by their wood stoves or reporting to Stillman to take advantage of the lamp light at the communal tables. Two of the more than twenty students, who opted to study in Stillman, slowly slid lanterns closer to their books before I could offer a quick warning about the hot globes. Other than a few slightly burned fingers, we settled into our Status routine, free of mishap.  However, within fifteen minutes, the fluorescent overhead bulbs began to hum and sputter, and the electricity was restored. Several students bellowed with relief and headed for the library computers, but others paused to talk over the situation, adjust their eyes, and then asked me to switch off the lights.  They weren’t ready to give up the ambiance, preferring to complete their work by lamp light. 

Math Teacher Phil Hasseljian in the lantern's glow

            It is fun to wonder what founders, Paul and Louise Squibb would think of that night in Stillman Hall and what they may think about the Midland experience of today. Would they have much to say about the school receiving the 2009 Governor’s Award for Environmental and Economic Leadership? Would they notice the student installed solar panels, the organic garden, or the new freezer holding our own grass fed beef? Would they be pleased with the curriculum and the college placement list?  They would certainly sense that the recent economic down-turn and the Great Depression of their time have similar lessons to teach. Although I trust the Squibbs would smile politely as we explained ourselves and reintroduced them to the Midland program of our time, I am not sure they would be reassured until they saw that student Prefects still lead the school and job leaders still tend to daily chores.

Last September, while delivering a Sunday chapel presentation, Ben Munger ’79 quoted Robert Louis Stevenson.

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. RLS

Ben said that Midland students don’t get anything from Midland except, “what they become by the experience.”  I think the Squibbs would agree that Midland teaches students how to think critically on their way to becoming thoughtful and discerning adults.  We still understand that students working closely with teachers learn to trust and develop the spirit to try, even with the risk of failure. Students at Midland know what it means to belong, to be useful, and to become a part of the place. We also know that living close to the natural world and providing for one’s basic needs, develops inner resources and strengths that last well beyond the college venture. Although Midland enrolls more students and uses more resources than in 1932, Paul Squibb’s call “to get on without…” is still part of the mission. It is up to us to continue to differentiate and to distinquish our needs from wants. It is our work and the lesson for our time; let’s get on with it.