HEAD’S CORNER Dear GDS Community: When I was growing up my father frequently reminded me of the importance of being my own person and not going along with the crowd or accepting what others thought without doing my own thinking and coming to my own conclusions. Today, our students are challenged with information coming at them from many different sources and it is more difficult than ever for them to know what to believe. What I know from walking through our School, observing classes, and talking with teachers and students is that Greensboro Day School is committed to helping students make up their own minds about what they think and believe. This can lead to some lively discussions as students lean in to share their thoughts and opinions! Fortunately, our faculty create safe spaces where everyone can have a voice and learn from each other. Underlying our daily is helping each student come to know themselves and form their own beliefs and values. This comes not only through conversations about current events and the history behind them but through our Character and Ethics programs, exposure to different cultures, and a rigorous classroom curriculum that expands their thinking. Our graduates regularly come back to tell us how well prepared they have been, intellectually, ethically and interpersonally, for college and the social and academic challenges they found there. This edition of the GDS Magazine provides many stories, articles and pictures illustrating the amazing work our teachers and students are doing each and every day to learn and develop themselves as constructive contributors to the world. Read examples from our students Cynthia Mae Hunt ’19 and Cameron Hanley ’25 who are already putting their time and talent to work to make our community and our world a better place. I hope that your smiles and appreciation of what you see and read are as wide and deep as mine as you peruse these pages. Warm regards, Mark C. Hale Head of School