January 2022: Recognizing Uniqueness in Others

Dear Friends,

Have you noticed how many minutes the television network daily news coverage devotes to the weather? It seems to be increasing each year, and we are learning so many new meteorological terms. When we traveled to Europe on our last Norbertine Heritage Tour, I remember the weather being reported with maps and graphics in about two minutes with no commentary each day! 

This weekend we experienced a significant “snow event” across the northeast. Earlier in the week, forecasting predictions for our county ranged everywhere from a light snow shower to up to six to even ten inches of snow, depending on the trajectory of the Nor’Easter. Fortunately, it hit our area on a weekend, so we didn’t have to second guess as to whether we can hold classes, start later depending on buses and other transportation, or close for the day. Winter, from a school perspective, can be very disruptive to the schedule!

Then again, let’s think about snowflakes . . . from what I found on SnowCrystals.com, what I remember from science class, and with the help of the book, “The Snowflake: Winter's Frozen Artistry” by Kenneth Libbrecht and Rachel Wing, snowflakes can be categorized. However, there are actually an infinite number of shapes of snowflakes. We have stellar dendrites, columns and needles, capped columns, fernlike stellar dendrites, diamond dust crystals, triangular crystals, twelve-branch snowflakes, rimed snowflakes, and graupel. These were the primary categorizations of snowflakes, according to Libbrecht and Wing, but the categories expanded to 41 in the 1940s, 80 in the 1960s, and more than 121 in recent years. Yet, even with all of these categories, there are an infinite number of variations based on how the snowflakes are formed in a particular cloud.

Categorizing snowflakes reminds me how we as humans enjoy categorizing and organizing things in our lives. In one of my doctoral classes, we studied multiculturalism and how definitions of race and ethnicity were developed. Merriam-Webster defines race as, “the group or groups that you may identify with as having similar physical traits that are regarded as common among people of a shared ancestry . . . “ (https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/difference-between-race-and-ethnicity, 1/26/22) It is a sociological construct. Whereas ethnicity “is to learn what group of people you identify with according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background. In other words, it is meant to get an idea about your nationality, heritage, culture, ancestry, and upbringing. The concept of ethnicity contrasts with that of race in that it is concerned with group cultural identity or expression whereas race focuses on physical and biogenetic traits.”

We can learn from nature . . . and snowflakes. While we can categorize each one to help us grasp a holistic understanding of them, it is an incomplete understanding not knowing the potential uniqueness of each one. The same is true for individuals, particularly our students. We talk about education at its best when teachers get to know their students as individuals, with unique gifts and talents in a context of their family experiences and community environment. It can be an overwhelming task at times, but it is tremendously rewarding to get to know students, to be able to help them polish their skills and talents, and to see them achieve something that even they thought was impossible. It’s like finding amazing new snowflakes that do not fit into any category. They are just God’s creation, and we feel lucky to have crossed paths with them.

This time of year, as we begin our second semester, the winter can seem harsh and the days long. Sometimes our energy wanes when we see grayer skies and still shorter days. But then we have a new snowfall, and right after, the air seems fresher and, before anyone is out and about, the perfect white blanket looks inviting, as the billions of snowflakes join together to glisten in the sunlight. That image for me represents the wonderful student body that we enjoy. Individually, they are talented, and collaboratively, they make Archmere shine.

On Wednesday, February 2 this year, Most Reverend William Koenig, Bishop of Wilmington, will visit Archmere for National Catholic Schools Week, and he will celebrate Mass with the student body. It happens to be the Feast of the Presentation, the celebration of the presentation of the infant Jesus by his parents in the Temple, as was the Jewish custom. We bless and light candles on this day, symbolizing the fact that Jesus is presented to all of us as the Light of the World. Traditionally, this feast day marked the end of the Christmas Season in the Church. This year, we also celebrate on that day at Archmere, the close of the 900th Anniversary of the founding of the Norbertine Order. We will have with us three abbots: Abbot Domenic Rossi, O.Praem., current Abbot of Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, PA, Abbot Richard Antonucci, O.Praem., Abbot Emeritus of Daylesford Abbey, former Archmere faculty member, and current member of the Board of Trustees, and Abbot Martin Strbak, O.Praem., from Jasov, Slovakia, where there is a Norbertine abbey and high school. Other Norbertines from the Daylesford Community will be joining us, as well. It will be a special day in a special week that spotlights Catholic education - an experience that is grounded in core beliefs and values, and in our case, viewed through the lens of the charism of Saint Norbert.

So, the next snowy day, look out at the landscape and imagine the infinite variations of snowflakes that, together, make for a beautiful scene. That’s what we experience each day with the students and their families that make the Archmere community so special.

Happy Winter!