Side by Side, Hand in Hand

I ran into a gentleman walking his dog on Long Wharf one sunny autumn morning- (of which we may have had a mite too many this dry and dusty fall). Dogs seem to create an easy and natural opening to conversation. Once we aligned our compass settings and found our common ground, he spoke to me about the gift that Sag Harbor Elementary School’s ‘Morning Program’ is to the community. This perked my ears rather precipitously as this was a program that I helped to lead for more than 25 years. It was a place that all school staff, teachers, administrators, students, parents and most importantly, children, met every single morning of every school year. It was an uplifting huddle, a morning hug, a daily reminder of the importance of community.

This gentleman went on to tell me how many people have moved to Sag Harbor in order to be part of this tradition. How these twenty or thirty minutes each day help to soften, mitigate, ease the bridge between home and school. Each morning you knew and you felt and you were part of the whole. You were no longer standing alone with your backpack, your Scooby Doo lunch box and the fresh memory of home.

There was the pledge, a patriotic song - birthdays were celebrated, holidays marked, accomplishments recognized. Classes were invited to showcase a song, a poem, a project, a learning. Fridays brought everyone to their feet in a flash of school colors, scarlet and black, as we stood ‘side by side - hand in hand’ to proudly sing the school song. There have been a number of illustrious Morning Program song leaders over the years along with an imaginative faculty and staff ready to add creativity and character to each morning. Perhaps what’s most amazing is that this has continued every day for more than 35 years!

There were naysayers now and then, perhaps just one or two - who thought that twenty minutes in the classroom might have reaped greater rewards. But I think they may have been forgetting the importance of building community in a world that seems increasingly divided and singular. As church attendance falls off, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts dwindle, civic engagement and social capital decline-there stands Morning Program reminding us that we are each part of something wonderful- a community that stands with you, by you and for you- a collective deep breath of ‘we are one’.

Of all the places my life has taken me, this one holds my heart. Can you even imagine a life where you get to tune your guitar, run down to the gymnasium and sing with hundreds of children every day? For me it helped to define who I was, or perhaps who I am. It is the confirmation that our school’s leadership believes in not only what’s in the heads of our children but also what’s in the hearts and the souls of our children. If all learning was to be quantified, I believe that learning to be a kind, active, and contributing, part of a community surpasses all!

And now I am left with an enormous binder of songs and a collection of smiles gathered, held onto and treasured through the years. It fills my heart to know that these songs live on in the lives of the children we have sung with and they continue to pop-up on school buses, college campuses, class reunions, and heartwarmingly, they’ve even become lullabies for the children of the children we have taught.

So, here’s to Sag Harbor Elementary for their dedication to building community and their decades of bringing us all together – side by side, hand in hand!