Adapting to the Challenge
Have you found yourself saying lately, “It has taken a pandemic to … .”? I have, and that includes releasing an online issue of The Link magazine. Perhaps it is a fitting tribute then that we celebrate 30 years of The Link with a new digital format. While we will return to mailing hard copies in the future, we have made the decision to publish the spring 2020 edition entirely virtually.
According to Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, “When bad things happen to you unexpectedly, like the current pandemic, part of grit is being able to navigate those stormy waters.” Her research shows that “gritty” people “tend to look for things they can learn and grow from so when it’s all over, they are no longer at baseline, they are actually better.”
We are living a moment in history which, according to Professor Duckworth, could be a paragraph, a few pages or even a full chapter. Who do you want to be during COVID-19? How do you want to remember this time? To hear more about what she has to say about grit, watch her great Ted Talk here.
COVID-19 has also required CDS to make a dramatic shift to remote learning. As a school that has always approached technology with balance, the transition at CDS has been remarkably seamless. In our cover story, Together Apart: Remote Learning The Country Day School Way, you will read about how it has been an evolving and expeditious shift. Talk about a copious amount of grit demonstrated on all fronts! Our students and parents have transitioned to learning and working from home, and our faculty, who have always thrived on relational teaching, are now teaching science and geometry, music and art – not to mention physical education – remotely from their home offices.
Finally, interspersed throughout this virtual magazine will be our usual School Highlights, feature news stories, Alumni Notes (including a special nod to those on the front lines), and two exciting Alumni Profiles.
- Adrian Battiston ’05 shares the story of his career pivot from medicine to law in the entertainment industry.
- Michael Cherny ’08 has worked his way up the ladder at Deloitte to Senior Manager Lead for the Future of Trust, while championing diversity and inclusion along the way.
Talk about grit!
In late June, we will release the entire magazine as a flipbook for you to peruse, and it is my hope that come the fall, we will return to mailing you a glossy magazine once again. However, from this point forward, The Link magazine will likely always have a virtual component as it continues to help connect the CDS community.
Stay safe and happy reading,
Kim Sillcox
Director of Communications
Director of Communications
