Headmaster Messages

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11 May

Posted at 15:16h in Headmaster Messages

​Dear WA Community, As the old poem goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” Perhaps that saying is more reflective of my native Kentucky than South Florida, but it does seem to indicate that May is a month for flourishing. Perhaps the horticultural cycle fits within that sentiment, but not necessarily the realm of schools which instead fits a theological theme—the already and not yet. For us, the month of May is fraught with wrapping up the current academic year while at the same time forging ahead for the next one. The idea of “already and not yet” captures the tension between what...

13 Apr

Posted at 15:12h in Headmaster Messages

​Dear WA Community, In times gone by, the Sunday afternoon drive was a popular pastime. The notion of “just going for a drive” as a form of entertainment has gone the way of the Dodo bird (a replica of which one can view at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, which I visited while watching our students perform in Carnegie Hall). Riding along and gazing at the scenery with wonder at new sights and sounds has been replaced—all too often—with some sort of virtual reality. My point is not to yearn for a purported genteel and cultured age but...

16 Mar

Posted at 15:46h in Headmaster Messages

​Dear WA Community, When our girls were little, they loved the movie The Sound of Music. As a result, I’ve watched it more times than I can remember or count. However, those days are long gone, and while I can no longer recall the dialogue, these words of Julie Andrews are forever etched in my memory, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start….” The Westminster Academy lexicon includes something with a similar theme, “Begin with the end in mind.” I never had the chance to ask Dr. Wackes if he was inspired by the singing Van Trapp family...

09 Feb

Posted at 16:34h in Headmaster Messages

​Dear WA Community, Some days, especially when I am clear-headed—typically, that is a euphemism for having had my morning coffee—I drive onto campus and reflect on those who have gone before. The Westminster Academy we all enjoy today hasn’t always looked like this one. Frankly, it hasn’t always been on the corner of 56th and Federal—we started in 1971 in rented facilities, including some over at the Pompano Beach horse track. At one point, the front of the school was on 22nd Avenue, and there was no west campus or swimming pool. Over the years, there have been at least seven...

12 Jan

Posted at 15:33h in Headmaster Messages

​Dear WA Community, The new year often represents an opportunity to reset. Some capture this idea with “resolutions,” which, while well-intentioned, can tend to have a short shelf life. To wit, I don’t have access to the data, but I suspect that gym memberships and training sessions spike around the middle of January and are in full decline by March. If I’m honest, my own willpower to avoid chocolate can be fleeting. That isn’t to say that milestones such as January 1 aren’t useful, nor are resolutions in and of themselves a bad thing. It is just that all too often,...