Welcome Aboard: A New Year Begins at Sturgis

A lot transpires in the first month of school at Sturgis, especially between Convocation and Open House. We wish to share some of the highlights, including some of the remarks made at Convocation by our Executive Director Paul Marble, West Principal Jenn Kirk,  and East Principal Patrick O’Kane. You will also find a description of freshman orientation at Camp Burgess and Hayward, Sturgis maritime traditions including the story of William Sturgis and signing the Sturgis Logbook at  Aselton Park.

I hope and anticipate that these six beliefs –

• • Mutual respect

  • Adults teach you, not stuff.

  • Your maximum potential

  • That you run, not what you run

  • Importance of being humble

  • Questions matter more than answers

– will become evident in the work that you, your classmates, and your teachers do together beginning on Wednesday. These are some of the key beliefs that – in my opinion – help us to build such a strong and vibrant school culture.

So as you prepare to walk through our front doors in just two days, there are a few things I want you to know:

You are joining a community that cares about you and wants you to feel a sense of belonging. Our student culture is one of warmth and you will quickly meet people who are easy to talk to.  

You may have already experienced this when you attended our new student orientation on Saturday….92 of you attended our new student orientation last Saturday, did team building activities, and began to make connections. And you will see this same welcome you received on Saturday when you arrive to school this week

Sturgis is a community where both students and staff will reach out to you and encourage you to get involved and try new things. 

There will be many ways to do this: In a couple of weeks we will host a club and activity fair during lunch to introduce you to a wide variety of clubs you can join. Our 10th, 11th and 12th graders will encourage you to join our clubs - and if there’s something you’re passionate about  that doesn’t already exist - they will encourage you to start a new club. 

Our sports teams are open to everyone, we don’t have cuts. And even if you’ve never played a sport before, know that it’s never too late. 

In fact, one of my favorite memories is of a student during the spring of his senior year who played tennis for the first time and it ended up being the highlight of his senior year. For you, maybe you’ll audition for the school play?

In a couple of weeks, you will participate in the Sturgis tradition of going to Camp Burgess with your 9th grade classmates for team-building. You will meet other 9th graders; our students often make connections there that will last through four years and beyond. 

I can tell you with great certainty that you will have many new experiences at Sturgis -- 

---you WILL make new friends 

--- you will learn new things about the world and about yourself.  

--- You will learn a classical language and foreign language

--- You will meet students from all four grades

---- AND You will take IB classes for the first time.

At Sturgis we value your participation and your growth above all else.  We understand that success is going to look different for each one of you. We believe that all of you can be challenged by rigorous work and that this will help you stretch and grow. 

There will be times in the coming weeks and months that the work will come easily to you. But there will be other times that it will be hard. 

• For you, Math may be/become a challenge. 

• For you, it may be writing an essay in English. 

• For you it may be presenting in front of your peers in class.

And so we will encourage you to grow by trying new things.  

For some of you that might mean:

• asking a classmate for help. 

• it might mean telling your teacher when you don’t understand and meeting with your teacher during our hour long lunch. Getting extra help at Sturgis is just part of the normal course of learning at Sturgis.

• it might mean seeking out your school counselor to get advice and then deciding yourself what to do

• or it might mean accepting outcomes that are less than perfect and using setbacks to help you improve 

So there is something else I want you to know -  your teachers are here to support you. They will not give up on you. All of your teachers know that you can learn the material. 

Know that they will seek to find and emphasize what you know rather than what you don’t - and they are focused on helping you learn what you need. 

In fact, All of the people in these first three rows are here to help you - your teachers, your school counselor, the administrative assistants in the office, the maintenance workers, and of course, me, your principal. 

Your fellow students will support you as well.  This is what we do at Sturgis, this is the Sturgis culture.  

We all work together, appreciate one another for who we are, and help one another to learn and grow

We are excited for you to join us on Wednesday.  Welcome to Sturgis West.

• “Your daily schedule will change–you’ll have to wake up earlier for the ride in”

• Your lunch routine will definitely change (yes, you get a full hour for lunch!)

• And probably something along the lines of “the next 4 years will change you in ways you cannot yet see”

These, and many other phrases with the word change are certainly common–and maybe you are sick of hearing them.  But I wanted to use that word change once more before you officially started Sturgis–but perhaps in a different way than many of you have heard up until tonight.

Because you are about to change us.  Sturgis.  Yes, we are about to change and it is all because of you. 

• Your interests are about to become our interests.   

• Your attitudes towards current events, pop culture, and just about everything we present to you in class–will challenge and possibly change our older (I mean…more experienced) viewpoints.  

• Your constant questioning of class content will keep us sharp and vital (and drive us just a little bonkers)

The teachers you are about to meet–yes, they will change your life.  I know this because our graduates tell us year after year about how influential their teachers have been.  But what often goes unnoticed is the fact that you all–in this case, the class of 2027–are about to leave your mark on Sturgis–it’s culture, it’s buildings, and everyone inside.  You are change agents as much as we are. 

So, yes, your 4 year journey will change you–for one, you will be about a foot taller when you graduate–but it will also change us.  And before I forget, you will also have a profound impact on the 14 and 15 year olds sitting around you tonight.  Your interests, dreams, struggles, triumphs….all of your soon-to-be high school experiences will have an impact on your classmates–and theirs on you.

So embrace this moment of, what?  Uncertainty?, expectation? Excitement? Maybe a combination of all three…knowing that (thank you Taylor Swift)  This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.”

Thank you!

Freshmen Orientation Activities:Team Building and Maritime Traditions

Since we have a wide range of towns on Cape Cod and off Cape from which our students come from, when freshmen first arrive on campus they are met with many unfamiliar faces. Every year in September, Sturgis freshman spend a day away from campus to attend a team building field trip at Camp Burgess in Sandwich. During the day, Camp Burgess leaders, grade 9 Sturgis teachers and freshmen break into small groups to participate in a variety of team building activities like problem-solving tasks designed to help group members learn how to work together effectively.  An important part of team building involves reflection and discussion about the activity, including how participants approached the situation and what they learned, while building trust, cooperation, and teamwork. Some of the goals for this day are: 

• Improving communication.

• Problem solving and conflict resolution.

• Re-energizing group members.

• Providing focus for developing group goals.

At the end of the day, Sturgis freshmen and Grade 9 teachers make their way from Camp Burgess to Aselton Park at Hyannis Harbor, the exact location where Sturgis Graduation takes place each June. Each campus Principal awaits them at a table displaying the Sturgis Log and Ship’s Bell. Once freshman are assembled on the lawn, the annual ceremony for new Sturgis students begins. They learn the history of William Sturgis, sign the Sturgis log book and ring the ship’s bell. Just as Sturgis signed on board at sixteen for his first voyage to China, Sturgis freshmen commit to the four-year challenge ahead by signing on for the voyage. During Sturgis graduation in the same location at Hyannis Harbor, seniors sign out next to their original signature in the ship’s log book signifying they completed the voyage.

Just as William Sturgis signed on board for his first voyage, students at Sturgis Charter Public School must commit themselves to the challenge ahead of them and “sign on for a term of duty. As each student accepts the responsibility of the four-year commitment they sign on the first line, signifying their request to board for a new voyage.  Upon completing the graduation requirements they “sign out” beside their original signature, signifying the voyage was completed.

Sturgis was 15 – about the age of incoming students when he began intensive study to further his career. Four years later, the same time required to complete high school, he achieved his goal to become the youngest captain in the American merchant fleet. Much can be accomplished in four years and each student’s goal can be achieved.