Commander Aaron Dimmock '92 has had a remarkable career of service. Currently serving as the Navy Representative to the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Military Professionalism, Commander Dimmock will retire from the Navy this spring. A decorated Navy man who has actively served overseas, Commander Dimmock also has been a flight instructor, commanded a post in Virginia and is completing his naval career with his post at the Pentagon. With advanced degrees in national security and public policy, Commander Dimmock is pursuing doctoral studies at Virginia Commonwealth University where his research interests include leadership, trust, candor, ethics, judgment, conflict resolution, human behavior, and organizational performance - areas that speak to his principles. It is an honor to welcome one of our alumni as the featured Commencement speaker.

Carol Cummings Rogers '59, who will retire at the end of this year, joined the faculty in 1976. A legacy graduate of Tudor Hall, (her mother is the Tudor Class of 1931), Carol dated and married a Park boy, Baxter Rogers '59, and together they watched their children, J. B. and Anne, grow up at Park Tudor. As an educator she has taught in all three school divisions and served as Middle School Director. Carol was the chief cheerleader and architect for building our Middle School and creating a dedicated learning space for 'her' students. Carol, along with the entire Rogers family, were named Distinguished Alumni of Park Tudor in 1997. Today, she has the joy of seeing her grandchildren grow up at Park Tudor and of watching her oldest grandchild, Baxter, graduate this year. Carol's unique connection to Park Tudor and its students provides the ideal platform from which to bring greetings from the faculty.

On Monday morning, during an extended advisory period, students in the Upper School participated in a student-led initiative called Spring Forward. The idea for Spring Forward was an outgrowth of recent student participation in the Student Diversity Leadership Conferences (SDLC) in Indianapolis (2014) and Tampa (2015), and the expressed desire of the Board and the administration to have students share their experiences and knowledge with their peers throughout the Upper School. Beginning in the late spring of 2015, a group of SDLC veterans began to develop plans for the morning's activities, with an eye toward linking them to the theme of this year's advisory program theme: identity development.

            

Following a brief introductory assembly, students gathered in thirty randomized activity groups - each named for a variety of flower from around the world - of about fifteen individuals, reflecting a cross-section of students from all four grades. Once settled in their activity group, student facilitators, supported by a faculty member, led the groups through a series of activities that focused on three core aspects of personal identity: race, class and gender. The activities, developed by the student facilitators, were designed to get students to reflect and engage in thoughtful conversations about how these three lenses influence how they experience, think about, and engage with the other members of the school community, as well as the world beyond Park Tudor. In the sessions on race for example, students identified and analyzed stereotypes that abound in contemporary society. In the session on class, students participated in a pair of simulations based on an anonymous survey completed last week by their peers. The activities were designed to increase student awareness of the pervasive yet subtle ways issues of socio-economic status impact members of their own community. And students in the gender sessions played Gender Jenga, using a slightly modified version of the Jenga game to better understand how gender is socially constructed and the way in which both gender roles and sexual orientation influence the ways individuals experience daily life.

            

Student responses to Spring Forward were positive, and they especially enjoyed having the opportunity to explore challenging social issues in a format led by their peers. Most also liked being put in random groups of students, giving them the chance to meet new people and requiring them to step out of the comfort zone of their advisory groups. Student facilitators also found the experience rewarding, particularly as they were tested by leading their classmates through a variety of challenging activities and conversations. Indeed, it would be fair to say that students felt Spring Forward was time well spent honing their community leadership expertise, as well as social and intellectual engagement skills that will serve them well as they think ahead to college.