KHS Insider

Today, Monday, January 18, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) and as such, our students are shifting from their normal academic programming to a special group of programs steeped in the ideas of civil rights, protesting, culture, bias, racism, and overall history. MLK Day does not exist in a vacuum, though we understand it may seem that way if one is receiving their information via social media alone.

Earlier this week, I opened Kents Hill School’s second semester by talking to our students, faculty, and staff about three words that would guide me as we turn the corner from 2020 to 2021. Gratitude. Hope. Inspiration. I must say that only a few hours later, my guiding words were challenged and tested by the disturbing events that unfolded in our nation’s capital. The peaceful transfer of power in our country - one of our hallmarks - was being disrupted by violence, anger, and division.

Thanks to the incredible work of our campus leaders, our wonderful staff/faculty, the Student Council, and individual students like TJ F. (who organized the NFL pick game that was wildly popular) we have ended the Food & Fuel fundraising campaign stronger than ever before.

In recent years the word “community” has become a bit of a buzzword for high schools, boarding schools, independent schools, and colleges. We understand why. Everyone wants to be a part of something and it is clearly relatable. However, the rise in popularity of the word has not always coincided with the changes those schools would need to make to really understand and be a community. At Kents Hill School (KHS), we know that community is about connection and we want to explain why we are protective of a word that has always been synonymous with our culture.