Joy is the way through 

above: Young Kindergarten brings their Lunar New Year dragon parade to the Head of School's office today, interrupting a meeting with a quick burst of joy

 

At Gordon we talk about joy. A lot. I feel blessed to work in a place that intentionally prioritizes joy. Not every school does. In fact, I would bet that most don’t.

But I can’t imagine doing this work without it.

This January, we had a run of rough weeks. There was grim news nationally, and aching loss within our community, all in the midst of unrelenting days of gray, chilly, forty-degrees-and-rainy weather. Even then, I could get out of bed and walk into campus in full confidence that I would encounter joy several times before the clock hit noon.

I knew I’d see joy at dropoff as a parent embarrassed their child with a little dance to a seventies track. I’d feel joy radiate from Nursery students as they invaded my office to search for alligators while peering through their lightboxes. I’d hear joy in Ms. Martindale’s description of a first grader finding that book about possums they never knew existed. I’d experience joy watching squealing middle schoolers play tag at recess.

Dr. Helen West Cooke's 1915 statement of intent for our school specified that Gordon should instill in our children “the true spirit of joyous work." I love that phrase joyous work—the two words connect into a single essence, like oxygen and hydrogen make water. This idea may be counterintuitive at first. When we recall, however, the emotional resources it sometimes takes to experience and share joy, Dr. Cooke’s phrase is pretty close to perfection. 

In his poem “A Servant to Servants,” Robert Frost writes, “the best way out is always through.” Joy does not ignore or diminish pain; joy creates a path through it. At its best, our joyous work at Gordon creates the space where children and grown-ups alike can make sense of the things that make no sense and imagine something, experience something, better.  

Last week, Gordon welcomed Dr. Carla Shalaby to work with parents, caregivers, faculty and staff and ponder the question of what freedom means to us in the context of our work with our children – in school and at home. She defined freedom as follows: “We keep us safe. We protect everyone’s bodies and feelings.” In this way, freedom is not just a right; it’s a responsibility. And it’s everyone’s responsibility. 

I believe joy is essential in our work because it is a conduit to freedom. Personally, I am grateful for the legacy of my ancestors who found joy inside the darkest and most unimaginable of circumstances. Through music, dance, worship, family, fashion, laughter, and so much more, Black folks kept themselves and each other safe. And the contagious nature of Black Joy has manifested the possibility of freedom for all people, if we are willing to make space for it. We keep us safe.

So, at Gordon we make space for surprise trips to ride bumper boats at the ice rink. We make space for POSOC bowling parties and Kindergarten family trips to the bakery. We make space for Tristan Strong and Gum Baby alongside our study of the legacy of African enslavement. We do this because joy fuels the optimism we need to fulfill a mission that asks us to help heal the wounds of a broken world. In her talk with parents and caregivers, Carla Shalaby ended by sharing her intention for her work. She said, “I want to prepare our children for the world we want, not the one that is.” 

Joy is the way through.