At this month’s Parent Association meeting, Waterford Parents gathered together to hear from faculty and students about the school’s 2024-25 theme of Together. Below you will find transcriptions of the speeches given at the meeting.

---

Speech given by Andrew Menke, Head of School:

Good morning and welcome to this first Parent Association meeting of the year. It has been an absolute joy to interact with your sons and daughters in classrooms, in the new Miller Student Commons, at Assemblies and on campus pathways. They are eager and earnest and truly excited to be together on this learning journey of the 2024-25 school year.

As you know, and we’ve written about it and spoken about it, our theme this year is together. Essential always to a learning community, especially so this year as we lean into a few initiatives that are central to our liberal arts mission. More on those initiatives in just a minute. As we begin together I want to read just a bit of our founding educational philosophy. I’m not sure how many of you have seen it on our website:

“LEARNING at Waterford is enhanced by the recognition of responsibility. Students value strong expectations that emphasize work, self-discipline, and dependability. As they practice personal accountability within the school context, they realize that learning is inherently communal and connected: that they and their teachers are in it together. Though we as individuals can become accomplished as our own teachers, learning necessarily occurs in the context of other persons, their ideas and voices, historical and contemporary. Learning is therefore invariably indebted. Our students come to recognize that all learning bears on living and ultimately on how best to live. They embrace the natural imperative to learn, but they also recognize a deep responsibility to share their learning with others in hope that they will be lifted thereby, their lives made richer and more fulfilled. There is no end to learning nor is it itself an end. Rather, learning is the means by which we all aspire to the nobility of the well-lived life.”

We believe deeply in this notion of indebtedness and the communal connectedness of learning. It is inherently what makes us human. You have likely heard me say that education is the greatest gift we can give to our children as it opens a world a lifetime of opportunities and possibilities. And you know that learning as just referenced “occurs in the context of other persons, their ideas and voices, historical and contemporary.  

We aspire in the liberal arts ideal to the nobility of a well-lived life service beyond self-responsibility to others. For many—perhaps most—of our students this is heady, sophisticated and esoteric—yet together, here each day at school, and in partnership with all of you, we help your children lean into challenge. We teach them how to think, not what think, to be curious, critical thinkers able to reason, analyze, synthesize and communicate well. And ultimately developing in each child an intrinsic love of lifelong learning. They are prepared for college and university study and for the wider world, the world of unlimited opportunity.

Our three priorities this year—cell phones away, uniform reset, and Miller Student Commons lunch—are all intended to reinforce this present connected and communal notion of liberal arts learning. Again, we have written to you about these priorities and had a Zoom Q&A last week. We have spoken in assemblies, morning meetings, and engaged in individual conversations with students, your children, about these initiatives 

So much of the research reinforces how important it is to limit the use of smartphones in the hands of adolescents. Our uniform democratizes the learning environment and reduces the clothes “arms race.” And lunch in the Commons, which is wonderful to behold, brings our community together in such special and meaningful ways.

I am in classrooms with colleagues at least once per day every day and I have been in the Commons for most of lunch each day as we’ve started school, and all is going well. We would love “perfection” on all of our initiatives, but that is not realistic. We are earnest in our efforts to provide oversight, not with a heavy hand, but consistent and clear what all children need. We will remain vigilant, as that’s what it will take to change behavior and therefore culture. 

I would like to conclude by introducing two folks that you likely already know—Dr. Brandon Bennett, Associated Head of School and MS/US Head and Dr. Melanie Battistone, Assistant Head of School and Lower School Head.  As many of you know they are indispensable to the daily experience your child has here at Waterford. They are amazing educators and skillful leaders. You will hear from them at an upcoming PA meeting. Thank you Dr. Bennett and Dr. Battistone for all that you do for Waterford. 

I would now like to turn the time over to our student body president. A spirited leader who was elected by his peers last spring, class XII student Declan D. ’25. 

---

Speech given by Declan D. ’25, Student Body President:

Top of the morning to you all. A lot of you may not know me, because I only showed up here freshman year, but my name is Declan D.; I’m 17 years young; and today I have the great honor of speaking before all of you in my new capacity as the Upper School Student Body President. 

I would like to begin by revisiting a thread I previously tugged upon in an address to the student body last Friday—an unofficial, yet extremely popular motto of the United States of America is “e pluribus unum.” It’s Latin, and it translates to “out of many, one.” I think this is beautiful. Sure, it’s idealistic, and any one of your kids who took American History last year is well aware that we may not always get it right, but in terms of a raw national mission, “e pluribus unum” is up there with the best of them. America is thousands of miles tall, thousands of miles wide, and yet, its many citizens of all ages, genders, religions, and skin tones have the capacity to all band together and call themselves one thing: “Americans,” and work towards a better future under a united banner. 

I believe that “e pluribus unum” is just a very ostentatious way of saying one word: “togetherness.” Well lo and behold, that just so happens to be Waterford’s theme for this year. So, that begs the question: how can Waterford’s incredibly diverse student body—with all its bits and bobs and bells and whistles—coalesce into one caring and mutually supportive whole? This is the question that Waterford has been grappling with since its inception, long before I—and perhaps even some of you—were born, and like any good practitioner of science, the school has tested many hypotheses. It just so happens that this year we find ourselves at the onset of another test, informed by an ever-growing body of scientific research that asserts phone use to be inversely proportional to socialization, and by extension, a feeling of camaraderie with those around oneself. Why say hello to someone new if you can simply crane your neck downwards towards a screen and walk by them in silence? 

Ok, what I’m getting at here is that we don’t have phones. I’m reading this speech off a piece of paper. Your children have groaned; I have groaned, but what I—and I’m sure many of them—have quickly come to realize is what this policy represents is change, not hindrance. For example: on the first day of school I found myself locked out of Veracross, and by extension, locked out of everything it feeds into, like Canvas. Why? I kept my passwords logged on my phone. The fix for this was remarkably simple. Now I just carry a notebook in my backpack wherein I can find every password I need. Change, not hindrance. 

Where in the past I may have turned to some trite social media app for a dopamine hit, I now find myself talking to acquaintances nearby and getting that exact same mental stimulation. Change, not hindrance. 

Indeed, these sorts of experiences are not unique to myself, and I believe them to be the fruits of a fledgling trend among the greater student body: we’re just talking more. I’ve already gotten chummy with a couple of people I’ve legitimately never spoken to prior to this year. Call me a Pollyanna but I’m willing to chalk that up to not constantly having a screen in front of my face. On the whole, I surmise that we as a student body are becoming closer to one another. We’re together. 

Let’s consider the new Miller Student Commons, to whose construction many of you donated. Every day at 11:35 it becomes awash with life as hundreds of students pour in to grab some grub and enjoy their meals together in a communal space. I see smiles; I see laughs; I see people getting unnecessarily deep. It’s a sea of human connection. 

Now imagine if they all had phones. 

I believe the flame of togetherness that burns bright beneath the mantle of the student commons would dim. I mean, heck, you don’t even have to chummity chum chums with everyone at Waterford, but simply talking to, and coming to more deeply understand those around you is a central aspect of building a strong community. You’re far more willing to stick your neck out for someone you know than a stranger—and that stranger is more likely to stick their neck out in your time of need if they’ve actually spoken to you. 

A compassionate and caring collective can pool together its combined strength to uplift those members who cannot lift themselves. If you’re faced with hardship, having five, ten, fifteen—three-hundred arms to fall back into is infinitely preferable to tumbling deeper into the abyss of despair, alone, and without a single friendly appendage to catch you on the way down. Our job as members of the Waterford community is to throw out our arms to those in need—with compassion, and no questions asked. Out of many, we must become one: a student body unified by caring, looking out for friend, acquaintance, and stranger alike.

And as improbable as it may sound, yes, I do think spending a few hours without our phones every day is a big way of fostering such a caring and compassionate student body. Together may we all prosper. E pluribus unum. 

---

Speech given by Betsy Wright, PA President addressing parent volunteerism at Waterford:

My name is Betsy Wright. I am the new PA President and it’s my honor to be with you here today.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to our new and returning Waterford families. Seeing all of you here this morning fills me with gratitude and excitement for what we can achieve together this year. Thank you to the faculty and staff who are here today and have made this meeting possible. A special shout out to the Development team of Andrea Brault and Christy Granat for the many meetings and great support you have provided these past months.

For the folks who I haven’t had a chance to meet yet—I’ll give you my quick background. I have 5 children, four still at Waterford—Class 12, 10, 6 and 3 and my oldest graduated in the class of ’23. 

This is my family’s 9^th year at Waterford. We moved from the Bay Area in pursuit of better quality of life and better education. We landed in Park City and at Waterford and have never looked back. My post-paycheck life has centered around school-related volunteerism. I was sitting at this very meeting 9 years ago, knowing no one and wondering what the next chapter would look like. ​When the meeting wrapped up, I introduced myself to Rosa Marshall—then PA President. Said I wanted to get involved. She asked did I play golf? Sure I did—little did I know that Rosa was on the golf team at Yale and I play a maximum of 18 holes a summer. But we got together to practice for the tournament and I somehow hit enough balls onto the fairway to almost pull my weight. And that’s how I met my first three friends at Waterford. Rosa also put me in touch with Amanda Nelson—then Gala Chair—did I want to take on the Acquisitions role? Sure I did. I didn’t consider that acquisitions is all about contacts, and guess what I had none of?!? But I started with one introduction from a generous Waterford family to another. Along the way, I collected Gala prizes for the Silent and Live Auctions, but selfishly for me, I made acquaintances and built friendships. 

Since then, I have thrice reprised my role as head of Acquisitions and the overall Gala Chair once. I’ve been part of the Annual Fund team 2 times, I’ve been a Class Representative a couple of times, joined the PAEC last winter. I managed the Boys Youth Lacrosse program for years and help organize and manage the parents of  Boys Varsity Lacrosse for the past three years. I’ve been an Admissions Office Parent Ambassador for my whole Waterford tenure. But perhaps my favorite role—the self-appointed OG Parent Ambassador of Park City parents where we have grown from 30 students to over 150. So be careful how much volunteer work you do, you just may end up standing at this podium!

I’d like to introduce you to the team of leaders who are the backbone of the Parent Association – we call it the Executive Committee. The Vice President and best co-conspirator, also a former Coordinator and the co-organizer of LS Field Day, Brittany Groesbeck. We have a Coordinator for each Division who oversees the Class Parent Representatives:

Karissa Peterson – US
Courtney Hawks – MS
Rachel Daines – Class III-V
Courtney Lewis – PK-Class II

I know that we have many Class Parent Representatives here with us this morning. Thank you all for your help this year. After we adjourn, these folks will be great resources if anyone has questions.

We also have three additional amazing ladies on the Executive Committee—Leslie Wadsworth who helps to plan and find volunteers for our myriad PA-supported activities; Jean Sanyal who works closely with the Music Department Chair to find volunteers for our concerts; and Sara Herschkop who works with the Admissions Department to train our Parent Ambassadors, staff our Open Houses and welcome new families each year.

If you’re sitting there thinking “What is the role of the Parent Association?” and “How can I get involved?” then you’re asking the right questions at the right time. The two fundamental goals of the PA are to 1) Build community and 2) Provide support. I would posit that we do a pretty great job of the latter, but need to focus more on the former.

How do we build and nurture the parent community at Waterford?

1. We come together monthly to share information and coffee at our PA meetings. 
2. We have large-scale social gatherings such as the Opening Family Brunch and the upcoming Tailgate as part of Fall Spirit Week.
3. We have smaller social gatherings such as the upcoming Parent Parties and grade-specific playdates, especially for Lower School.
4. We also have volunteer opportunities, which I will talk about in a moment. 

We have brainstormed lots of other ideas of how to build our parent community, from grade-specific post-drop-off coffees to resurrecting the parent book club, to hiking clubs. If you have ideas on what would be meaningful to you, please share those via the cards on the table or reach out to me later. 

The second goal of the PA—to provide support—is mostly achieved through our volunteerism. There are three main avenues that we can help, and while all are not technically part of the PA. They are all near and dear to my heart and all need our support. Those opportunities include: 

1. Parent Association
2. Founders Gala Committee
3. Annual Fund

I’m going to focus on the Parent Association, Kelley Rogge will speak to you in just a minute about the Gala, Dave and Selena Overholt will share information and updates about the Annual Fund at a future PA Meeting. 

The Parent Association is the organizing body that staffs volunteers for our myriad activities. In the Lower School, the requests come from the teacher to the Class Representative to you. These include theme days like Egypt or Colonial Day; fieldtrips to the Zoo or Aquarium; or sharing your family’s heritage with your child’s class. Other opportunities such as volunteering to shelve books in the Library or help out with Photo Day have a special sign up process that I’ll share with you in just a moment. 

In the Middle and Upper School, opportunities to volunteer will predominantly come from the Coordinators with the exception of the Class XII Reps. This includes the Ice Cream social we just had for US; setting up and chaperoning MS dances; helping with service projects, etc. 

There are school-wide opportunities such as Book Fair, International Day and volunteering in the Student Store.

With the exception of opportunities that are classroom-specific, we now have ONE volunteer sign-up portal. You can navigate there from the main school page or within Veracross. You can register your interest in future events or select a timeslot for upcoming events for which we already have volunteer needs specified. For instance, Photo Days are upon us – so you could have signed up for MS/US Photo Day and there is still time to help with LS Photo Day on the 13^th of September. If you’re a parent of a Senior, you can sign up to help with Senior Lunches. We’re also coming up on the fall tailgating for Spirit Week. If we don’t have specific timeslots yet, you can still register your interest. Each month I will highlight upcoming volunteer opportunities. 

To make this as easy as possible, you will also note the QR Codes on your table. So before you leave, please feel free to pop into our portal and sign up for Photo Day or let us know that you’re interested in upcoming events. Thank you to everyone who has already submitted theirs!

The Parent Passport Program is BACK! Each time you scan the QR code at a qualifying event that you see listed, you will be entered to win 2 Gala tickets. As a special bonus, scan the code at every PA meeting you attend. You will be entered as many times as you attend for a grand finale selection at the April PA meeting where you do need to be present to win your two Gala tickets.