Headliner

Fall/Winter 2022-2023

Dear Saints Community,

Happy New School Year! 

I have always felt, in that briefest of pauses between the end of and beginning of a year, an unguarded hope and joy for what the blank canvas of a new year will bring. Over the last few years, each turning point toward normal, each moment together, has filled me with that same hope and joy. Events and gatherings together as a community are things that we once took for granted, but now we see these celebrations and times together as the special gifts that they have always been. 

At our annual all-school Thanksgiving service, it was the first time our community had gathered all together since 2019. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for each moment of that morning: the seniors pinning their kindergarten buddies with their angel pins, our choirs and instrumental groups performing beautiful music together, our united voices in prayer. This was a big moment full of little, special, tender moments, and my heart was full. The following is an excerpt from my homily that morning.

Go Saints! It is going to be a great year.

Warmly, 

Kirsten Adams
Head of School

A Thanksgiving Homily from Head of School Kirsten Adams

One of the things that I learned during the pandemic was to be grateful for the small things– being able to see friends, strolling through HomeGoods even if I did not buy anything, eating a nice meal out at a favorite restaurant, sitting in the audience for a performance or an athletic contest. I am also grateful for all of the small things in our school. I am thankful for seeing you arrive in the morning to school–especially our Lower Schoolers who skip with joy into their classrooms excited to start the day. I am thankful to hear you making too much noise in the hallway. I am thankful to see you cheering on the sidelines—I am thankful that in our community, students say hello, hold the door for each other, and help each other with their homework. I am thankful that our students say thank you.

Many think we should strive for a life of grand gestures like saving someone’s life or giving thousands of hours of service or serving as school president– and yes we should strive for these things, but today I want to talk about those smaller gestures. Those small things we do every day that help to make others feel important and like they belong—you never know how much you will impact someone. You’ve probably heard the quote by Maya Angelou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

I also fly a lot by myself for work to visit our amazing alumni around the country. You will find me grabbing onto the arm rest, and listening to a podcast or closing my eyes until we are safely on the ground. Once while flying by myself, the pilot got on the intercom and welcomed us to our flight and warned us that it would be bumpy as we took off. I wasn’t too worried as I thought it would just be a few bumps until we got above the clouds, and we would level off. Unfortunately, I was in the way back of the plane and the turbulence was the worst I had ever experienced. I was terrified. Tears streamed down my face, and I gripped onto the armrests so hard that I was sure they were going to break. I just kept waiting for the turbulence to stop. It went on and on, and I started making deals with God about keeping us safe. Over the noise of the plane engine, my seat mate asked me, “Dear, is this your first time flying?” If I was not so freaked out, I am sure I would have been embarrassed as I had flown many times. Luckily, I turned to her and her simple question led to an hour-long conversation with her holding my hand.  I have no idea what we talked about. It was nothing profound or pithy, but instead of turning on her headphones and ignoring me, she distracted me for the rest of the flight and we landed safely back in Washington. I have never forgotten how my seat mate made me feel, even though I do not know her name.  

In today’s psalm, we heard “Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.” While certainly this could be asking us to preach God’s gospel and share the good news, I also think “give thanks to him” is another way of saying “go into the world and treat those around you with gratitude and love for their gifts. Make them feel like they belong.” I truly believe that my seatmate on the airplane was living her life as God asked. God puts people in our lives to help us along our journey.

Sometimes we are put into people’s lives to help them along the journey. One of the ways in which our community helps is by collecting supplies for those in need and creating blessing bags. While the food or toiletries or other items are extremely important, I also believe that the notes, pictures, and drawings that we place inside of the bags are just as important. They say to the individual or to the family receiving the items, “We see you. You belong. You matter.” 

You wield great power in this world, and I encourage you to use it for good. Please remember that you are loved. You belong here at SSSAS. We are so grateful to you and all of the big and small things that you bring to our school community.

I want to tell you a story of a very small moment that I will never forget. One of the things I love to do is to travel, and I have had the chance to fly a lot for my job and in my personal life. When we get on the plane, my family tries to avoid sitting next to me. You might think it is because I talk too much or snore too loudly, but rather it is because I still am a nervous flier. Whenever there is turbulence and every single time that we land, I grab on to my husband’s or children’s hand and hang on for dear life.