On the way to school today, I asked a student, who will remain anonymous, why she thought Grandparents Day has become so popular at NYA. “That’s easy,” she said. “We’re united by a common nemesis!” In other words, parents who have to say ‘no’ to all kinds of indulgences.

So, now that we know one reason why some of you are here, I would like to propose a few other possibilities:

There are NYA alumni among us today who will walk down our hallways and sit in on classes with the unique perspective that only the passing of many years brings. They will, no doubt, think about how NYA has changed and the new challenges it faces to help prepare the current generation of students for a more complex, global time. As alumni, I also hope you will stop by and introduce yourself. I would love the opportunity to meet and to hear your stories about our school.

There are also those among you who are naturally curious about NYA, a school that is now in its 198th year and one that has strong academics, challenging athletics, and enriching arts curriculum at its foundation.

And of course, there are those among you now who are here because you want to stay connected with the lives your grandsons and granddaughters. You want to know more about what your family members are learning, who their friends are, how they think, what’s important to them.

It’s this last point that I would like to highlight today. When you went to school, you may have been immersed in the three R’s: reading, writing and arithmetic. And these R’s are important. They are the basis for a strong academic program. But I’d like to add to these with three more for us to consider today: Relationship, Reflection, and Resilience.

As an educator, I am particularly interested in providing students with opportunities to make connections with other students and with teachers. At NYA, these connections are impressively strong. As I walk through hallways, I see teachers working closely with students in every facet of their lives, teachers who form great bonds with them as mentors, who take the time to get to know who they are and how they learn. Furthermore, the strong relationships you build as grandparents supports our students’ learning. At NYA, we want to do everything possible to foster this kind of relationship and encourage your involvement in their lives to the fullest extent possible.

It also provides a great way to cultivate the second R, reflection. Through thinking back to what they learned in classes or on the playing field, students are more likely to both learn and retain new information. Your part in this can be as simple as knowing what happened to your grandson or granddaughter on a given day and asking them to talk about these experiences. Sharing your own stories of youthful missteps and successes may help them as well.

And finally, resilience. And this goes beyond what students may say about getting along with a common nemesis! Resilience gets to the heart of what we cultivate through challenging students in a supportive, nurturing environment. We want to set the bar high and we want to be there for students so everyone can succeed.

And this is only the beginning of the conversation. There is so much more to say about each of these areas and ways that you can stay involved and in touch long after Grandparents Day. You’ll notice that we have cards here that you can fill out if you would like to be part of a newly formed Grandparents Council. This group will discuss all of the 6 R’s and many other letters in the alphabet, too. If you are interested, please let us know. And regardless of how you choose to stay involved with NYA, we look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in Yarmouth often. Thank you for being here. Thank you for learning about the lives of your grandsons and granddaughters. And thank you for being connected to our school.