Celebrating New Beginnings

The first day of school is always a momentous occasion, and today was no exception. As the first rays of dawn illuminated our campuses this morning, they also ushered in the promise of fresh beginnings. With the arrival of our students, ISZL’s once quiet halls and open spaces were instantly transformed, infused with the vibrant energy of excited voices, laughter, and the joy of reconnecting with friends, old and new. These moments truly bring our school to life—a celebration of our community uniting to embark on another year of shared growth and discovery.

The morning has been filled with awe, wonder, and renewal, perfectly capturing the essence of hope embodied by our young learners. I have always felt that the cyclical nature of a school year is profoundly motivating and a unique privilege, offering us a fresh start with each new chapter and an opportunity to dream bigger, strive further, and achieve more than we ever imagined.

Today’s culminating and transformative morning would not have been possible without the unwavering dedication and commitment of our talented ISZL staff and the partnership with our families. It is this shared, human endeavour that embodies the spirit of ISZL, setting the stage for this exciting new chapter.

One of ISZL’s greatest strengths is the remarkable sense of community that unites us all—students, staff, and families alike. Our school is a place where care, kindness, and mutual respect are not merely ideals but the foundation of our shared journey. With more than 60 nationalities, we take pride in our rich diversity, celebrating each member’s unique perspectives and experiences in our community.

Together, we will continue to build a school where every individual feels valued, supported, and empowered to make a positive impact—a place where learning is turned into meaningful action, and where we are all committed to making the world, or at least our corner of it, a better, kinder place.

Wishing everyone all the very best for an inspiring and successful 2024-2025 school year!

With gratitude,

Barry

Nikau (Therapy Dog) and Eddie the ISZL Eagle

Bidding Goodnight to Our School Year

Today marked our last meeting of the year together as a staff, which always prompts a moment of reflection. As children’s books provide poignant life lessons, I will defer to one of my favourites, Goodnight Moon, which I have often read to my own children in recent years.

While written for young children, Goodnight Moon also serves as a beautiful metaphor for celebrating the conclusion of our 2023-2024 school year at ISZL. Just as the book gently bids goodnight to each cherished object, we, too, bid farewell to a year filled with growth, learning, connection, and community. 

Each page of “Goodnight Moon” reminds us to appreciate the small details in our surroundings and to be present in the moment. The soothing rhythm of expressing gratitude for the meaningful objects in our room (or what is meaningful in our lives) is calming and reassuring.

Each page echoes the warmth and security we feel within our school, a place of inclusion, care, and a sense of belonging. The book reminds us to find joy in simple pleasures. Bidding goodnight to the world reminds us of the importance of rest and self-care, and the opportunity to start a new day, or in our case, a new year, fresh and rejuvenated. 

As we wish our school year a “good night”, we acknowledge the accomplishments and memories we have created together. This restful slumber symbolises a well-deserved break for our community, allowing us to rejuvenate and reflect. 

With the dawn of the school year ahead, we look forward to new beginnings, continued learning, and the promise of further fostering our vibrant ISZL community. 

Let’s embrace this transition from one year to the next with the same gentle, hopeful spirit found in “Goodnight Moon,” ready to awaken refreshed and inspired for the journey ahead.

ISZL’s Bel Canto Choir, led by David Smith, performed a beautiful rendition of Goodnight Moon, adding a melodious touch to our farewell and setting a harmonious tone for the coming year.

We can’t forget that ISZL’s Eddie the Eagle also joined us in bidding goodnight to our 2023-2024 school year.

If you are interested in learning more about the history of the book Goodnight Moon, the podcast from https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/goodnight-nobody/ is fascinating (Thank you, Valerie Koch for sharing).

Feature Photo Credit: AI Generated

The Precious Gift of Time

The following are my opening words at ISZL’s 2024 Graduation Ceremony.

Grüezi mitenand. Good Afternoon. To our honoured attendees: ISZL’s Board of Trustees, Teachers and Staff, Families and Friends, and all those watching from around the world via live stream video, welcome to our commencement ceremony. 

It is my utmost privilege to present ISZL’s Class of 2024. Today, we gather to celebrate you, our students, in a myriad of ways by a community that not only admires but also deeply cares for you. Congratulations, students, your accomplishments have filled us with pride.

I stand before you with immense gratitude, deeply honoured to serve this exceptional community. Living in Switzerland and being part of ISZL is a privilege I cherish each day. One of the daily delights I appreciate is my evening stroll by the lake with our dogs. 

This week, I noticed some of our seniors on a park bench, leisurely enjoying the evening together. We recognised each other, but I did not want to interrupt their special moment. I imagined their joy, having finished exams and savouring the last days of high school. 

At this week’s Senior Seminar, I spoke with one of the students I had seen the previous evening. He shared how he suddenly had an abundance of free time and felt uncertain about how to fill it. I immediately responded, “Free time, what a gift!”.

Graduates, as you sit here on the brink of a new journey, I want to share a profound truth: Time is a non-renewable resource. Once passed, time cannot be reclaimed. It is a precious gift, and how you choose to spend it will shape the course of your life.

A life journey is one of self-discovery through exploration and learning from mistakes. Each experience, whether a triumph or a misstep, shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world. Time, as an irreplaceable resource, underscores the importance of deliberate action and reflection. 

As adults, we gain wisdom and good judgment beyond that of our children by having had the time to make more mistakes and to learn from them. In other words,  “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from learning from bad judgment.” While parents naturally want to shield their children from errors, some lessons can only be learned through personal experience. Knowing ourselves is the beginning of all wisdom, and how we spend our time pursuing knowledge, adventure, and growth defines the richness of our life’s journey.

To put the value of time into perspective, consider this: As a Canadian male, my average life expectancy is about 82 years. While I hope to live well beyond that, this means I may only have 26 more summers to enjoy, 26 more trips around the sun to read those books on my wishlist, explore new destinations, run that special marathon, complete an advanced degree, and savour a moonlit night sitting on a park bench with dear friends. 

…I may only have 26 more occasions to celebrate my children’s birthdays. 

We all experience the unrelenting march of time, a profound reminder of our humanity, emphasising the finite nature of our existence. This awareness imbues our lives with meaning, as we recognise that each beautiful moment is unique and unrepeatable. It is this finiteness that compels us to make the most of our time, while treasuring our tapestry of memories graced by family and friends who cherish us and bring joy to our lives. The poet Mary Oliver famously asked, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” 

As you transition today from ISZL students to alumni, we hope you continue to use your time to embody ISZL’s vision to turn your learning into action, stretch yourself further and achieve more than you ever thought possible. Each moment of time is invaluable to be carefully managed and fiercely protected, whether it is preparing for exams, relishing today’s ceremony with your family and friends, working towards personal and professional goals, or simply sharing an evening on a park bench by the lake with friends. 

In closing, remember that time is fleeting, but its impact is enduring. May you continue to use your time to create, inspire, and make a difference. The world needs your brilliance, your compassion, and your courage. Congratulations, Class of 2024. I wish you all the best as you brighten the world with your light, fulfilling ISZL’s mission to make the world, or your corner of it, a better, kinder place.  Thank you.

Barry Dequanne

Photo: Family hike with friends in Höhenweg Hoch Ybrig, Illgau, Switzerland (Ladybug Trail)

A Better, Kinder Place in 2024

The breaks in our school calendar offer us the privilege to pause, reflect, and consolidate learning at individual and institutional levels. Then, with renewed zeal, we return to classes, embracing our ISZL journey, steered by our commitment to learning, community building, and fostering belonging in a world that can sometimes feel chaotic. 

In this context, Margaret Wheatley’s “Islands of Sanity in a chaotic world” concept (Wheatley, 2023) resonates with our efforts at ISZL to ensure an inclusive environment where everyone is valued and encouraged to contribute their best. Her focus on generosity, creativity, and kindness echoes our mission to cultivate these traits in our students and ourselves as adults.

Wheatley encourages us to believe in the inherent goodness and potential of people, a belief mirrored daily at ISZL through our students’ curiosity, our staff’s dedication, and our community’s united efforts. These experiences have enriched our learning, strengthened our connections, and underscored the transformative power of education.

The ability to turn learning into action was exemplified yesterday as our High School students hosted a parent Youth Forum Switzerland (YFS) Climate and Sustainability evening featuring exceptional local and international speakers. It was an inspiring event, reinforcing how the Islands of Sanity we have created through common purpose, interconnectedness, and hard work have resulted in impactful learning experiences and outcomes, as evidenced, for example, by our students’ Himalayas Climate Action Expedition video.

This was a precursor to tomorrow’s Youth Forum Switzerland event when more than 1,000 students and adults from ISZL and worldwide will converge at our High School campus. The day, designed by ISZL students, for students, ensures that young people’s voices are amplified and heard on the issues that will impact their future. You can watch the event live on the YFS Website.

Looking ahead to 2024, ISZL aims to continue serving as an ‘Island of Sanity’ – a nurturing space for personal development, creativity, and diversity. At a time when there are so many global challenges and crises, our unwavering commitment is to a path forward of continued collective growth, embracing generosity, creativity, and empathy.

Reference:

Wheatley, M. (2023). The work of sane leadership. Leader to Leader.  https://doi.org/10.1002/ltl.20781

Better Together

Reflecting on the state of world affairs and the challenges we have been facing, from a worldwide pandemic to historical political events to social injustice, among other critical issues, it would be easy to understand the impulse to have consigned 2020 to the local Ökihof (Swiss recycling centre) for recycling and become a distant memory. However, as difficult as the past year has been, and without diminishing in any way the immeasurable losses experienced by so many of our community members, 2020 has also taught us many lessons and forced us to learn more about ourselves, our work, and our communities. As 2021 is continuing to unfold, and many of the same challenges remain, I am hopeful that the experiences from both 2020 and 2021 to date will serve to provide a constructive and insightful pathway forward for our time ahead.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, The Fellowship of the Ring (a personal favourite), there is a lament from the main character wishing the challenges they were facing did not happen during their time. Gandalf replies, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us”. 

What our community of international schools has done with this time has led to so many inspiring stories about innovation, reinvention, and the learning of new skills. The importance of community, relationships, health, and well-being, and our ability to be present have all come to the forefront. We have been moved and buoyed by the kindness, compassion, and empathy extended by friends and strangers alike. There is no longer any doubt (if there ever was any) that learning is a social endeavour, and through our need to connect, we are reminded that our diversity and differences are among our greatest strengths. 

Perhaps the most enduring response during these challenging times has been the collective bolstering of our international community’s esprit de corps, from which we have emerged more aligned and unified. Borrowing from the wisdom young children often convey to adults, my three-year-old’s recent declaration may best summarise what has buoyed us: “We are better together”. I feel a profound sense of gratitude to be part of our International School of Zug and Luzern (ISZL) community and our larger collection of international schools and organizations as we work through challenges, seek positives, and embrace the new opportunities that have emerged from these difficult times. 

These are not pollyannish declarations; the pandemic has reminded us of how central schools can be towards uniting communities, achieving more together, supporting our collective well-being, and realizing our potential. It is also during these times when our schools’ missions are perhaps most relevant. In our context here at ISZL, I am grateful to be serving at a school with a mission in which we are committed to being a “community of learners determined to make the world – or our corner of it – a better, kinder place.” And, similar to schools around the globe, it is this very commitment that leads to the realization of our vision to help every student turn their learning into action, creating opportunities to stretch themselves further and achieve more than they believe possible.

Featured Photo Credit: ISZL Communications Team

Photo Below: Me, a cellphone, and a fortunate moment

Our three-year-old reminding me that we are all “better together”

Journeys and Transitions

While the very nature of an international community is one of transience, it is important not to diminish the challenges and opportunities associated with the transitions themselves. As the departure of valued colleagues and dear friends are accompanied by the arrival of new families and the promise of new friendships, we also find ourselves managing pandemic-induced vicissitudes. But, with every challenge, we also seek to learn from our experience and embrace new opportunities.

Could anyone have imagined last semester that campuses around the world would be closed from one day to the next, that over one billion students would spend several months learning from home and connecting with teachers online? As we know, this is exactly what happened. It was remarkable to see how quickly our community transitioned to a new reality and incorporated creative, and, in several cases, better ways of doing things. It was also affirming to witness what can be accomplished when real or perceived barriers are removed. 

Our life journeys will include the need to face adversity, when our character and values are tested, when we are transformed for the better. We know that real growth comes from overcoming setbacks and challenges. We tend to learn much more from our failures than our successes. We face our crucibles, learn from those experiences, and emerge transformed in a fundamental way, though transitioning through these stages is not always easy. The author, William Bridges, makes a key distinction between the impact of change and transition on our lives:

“…change is situational. Transition, on the other hand, is psychological. It is not those events, but rather the inner reorientation and self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life. Without a transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture. Unless transition happens, the change won’t work, because it doesn’t ‘take’”.

The pandemic has challenged us in ways we could not have previously imagined. And, while it has not always been easy, our families, teachers, and staff have all inspired and emboldened us. Our students have been heroic throughout this journey, showing us how to flourish with grace, class, and good humour during a time of uncertainty and change.

Looking ahead, we will continue to prepare and plan for a school year using design principles that are adaptable and flexible in nature. We are committed to embracing transitions, learning from our experiences, incorporating new opportunities, and advancing a learning programme designed to help every student turn their learning into action, and stretch themselves further and achieve more than they believe possible [ISZL Vision].

Photo Credit: Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

From One Parent to Another…

This letter to parents has been written by an ISZL Parent/Teacher:

Dear Parents, 
I have been thinking about you a lot lately. Like you, I’ve just finished attempting to motivate my Primary School aged son to organise his day. He begins with eagerness but his attention is limited, and to be honest, working from home has shown me that mine can be too. It is hard to sit in front of a computer all day, without the energy and enthusiasm that comes from working in a school, especially one like ISZL. It is a challenge for teachers as much as for students. We miss working directly with children, being able to have meaningful discussions about their learning and engage in the process together. 

I have been thinking about you as I try to find space in my apartment to take a Google Hangout call with my team. Every other member of my family has a virtual meeting scheduled at exactly the same time. In the end, I carve out space on the balcony, thankful for the sunshine and view. I have been thinking about you as I try to manage the never-ending requests for snacks and food from my family, while I try to find documents in Google folders of students. It can sometimes feel like they may have designed an extra special challenge for their teacher. Know that I am thinking about you as I struggle to find balance in being a teacher, parent, spouse, friend and colleague. 

But know this, I am also thinking about your child. I know this situation can feel overwhelming, for you and for them. It is easy to focus on and worry about the work they are, or are not, doing. But, I also know that if we keep talking with our children and reminding them that all will be well, they have an unprecedented opportunity to learn things that cannot be taught if not without these extraordinary circumstances. As I think about my own children and my students, I am hoping they will learn to have balance, resilience and motivation to help guide their learning. If they do, this will have been time well spent. They are learning to adapt, to identify support that they need, and to think about ways to get help when a task feels hard. They may even have the time to find something new that they love. Better yet, there is time. Time to have a more relaxed start to the day.  

My son has learned to make pancakes which I see as an essential life skill. Time to extend our dinners well into the evening laughing about the craziness of the situation or something funny someone saw on YouTube. Time to see our children as students, what they excel at and where they may need more support. My daughter has been coaching my son on writing a plan for the day to help organize his work, I am hopeful she is more successful at keeping him on track than I have been. I am thinking about you, my students and my family and am hopeful that we can all learn what is most important. That through all of this we were all here to support each other. This, in the end, is the most important thing we can teach them.  

Yours sincerely, Parent, Teacher, Colleague and Friend.

Link: At-Home Learning

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

Learning Into Action

What is your mission or purpose in life? What is your vision for your personal future?

While we may not ask ourselves these questions very often, the ensuing reflections are often helpful in clarifying our values, articulating what is important to us, guiding our decisions, and determining how we focus our energy and time. As these questions are also of paramount importance to any organisation, ISZL has recently undergone an extensive community-wide process to re-articulate our school’s guiding statements.

OUR MISSION
We are a community of learners determined to make the world – or our corner of it – a better, kinder place. We reflect our values in everything we do so that we make the most of the opportunities and challenges in a spirit of enthusiastic inquiry.

The mission statement is about our school’s purpose with a focus on today and what we do to realise these aims. The words, “we are a community of learners” signify that ISZL is not just a school, but rather a community working together to positively impact the lives of others.

During Professor Yong Zhao’s recent visit to our school, his words further emphasised this key facet of our mission: We don’t just learn from others, we learn for others as well. ISZL students embody these ideals every day through our many service programmes and the recent Youth Forum Switzerland event, for example. By creating something of value, there is purpose in learning, which enhances passion, creativity, and the development of an entrepreneurial mindset.

OUR VISION
We help every student turn their learning into action, creating the opportunity to stretch themselves further and achieve more than they believe possible.

A vision is designed to be bold and aspirational. It is a belief and an ethos that drives us forward to realise the school we want to become. The mission represents a constant purpose that transcends time. In contrast, the vision is what we seek for our future selves. When we begin to actually achieve our vision, then it will be time to set a new and bolder aspiration for our future.

While our mission is about what we collectively do as a community, the vision is exclusively focused on our students and how we help every student turn their learning into action, stretching themselves further and achieving more than they believe possible. This vision can only be fully achieved through the aligned efforts of all community members.

The next step in this journey is to map out how we will advance our mission and vision to achieve our goals. The critical work to establish an articulated strategy and associated projects is currently in process and will be shared out in an upcoming edition of the ISZL Bulletin.

In the meantime, I would like to again thank you for your feedback and ideas during this journey. Your contributions, particularly from the Design Lab process, have played a critical role, not only in the development of ISZL’s guiding statements, but also towards the development of strategic priorities.

Photo Credit: ISZL Communications and Public Relations Team

New Year, New Beginnings

As we embark on the new year and decade ahead, and in the spirit of new beginnings, it is with a sense of excitement, pride, and honour that we launch ISZL’s new guiding statements.

We would like to extend our deep levels of appreciation for our community’s involvement in the development of our new mission, vision, and values. The year-long process that led to this moment involved embracing a design principles approach. We engaged with hundreds of community members to explore the existential questions associated with our school’s purpose and direction.

The outcome of this work is a mission that commits not only students, but all adults in our community, to a culture of learning and a determination to make a positive difference. The new vision, in turn, speaks to our paramount focus on ensuring students realise their full potential and are able to turn their learning into action. 

Our community-wide process also resulted in the adoption of ISZL’s past mission-related words – respect, motivate, and achieve – as our school’s values. They have been transformed into action statements to further hold us accountable to realising these ideals. These values serve to celebrate ISZL’s history and recognise the efforts of those past community members, whose ‘shoulders we are now standing on’, who are enabling us to envisage the next steps for our school’s future.

We hope you take some time to engage with the complete set of new ISZL Guiding Statements. The statements include a reference to the school’s identity in addition to a newly introduced and critically important set of learning principles designed to guide teaching and learning at ISZL.

To that end, it is with great excitement and belief in our future that we share ISZL’s new mission, vision, and value statements:

OUR MISSION
We are a community of learners determined to make the world – or our corner of it – a better, kinder place. We reflect our values in everything we do so that we make the most of the opportunities and challenges in a spirit of enthusiastic inquiry.

OUR VISION
We help every student turn learning into action, creating opportunities for students to stretch themselves further and achieve more than they believe possible.

OUR VALUES

  • We respect. We show empathy and are inclusive and thoughtful in our interactions with others. Every person is valued and valuable.
  • We motivate. We inspire each other and grow by building on everyone’s individual and collective passions.
  • We achieve. We create an exceptional learning environment focused on academic achievement and holistic development.

Looking ahead, these new statements must be much more than simply ‘words on paper’. Our collective commitment is to turn these ideals into action and to ensure our guiding statements come alive every day to guide our work, decisions, and strategy. Over the next year, we will bring you stories of how our statements guide the advancement of our culture, school development, and approaches to teaching and learning. We encourage you to follow ISZL on social media to stay up-to-date with our progress: ISZL Facebook, ISZL Instagram, ISZL Twitter and ISZL Linkedin.

In terms of next steps, we are currently working through the thousands of feedback data points submitted by our community during the design process. This will assist us in establishing a strategic framework and corresponding objectives to realise ISZL’s new mission and vision. We expect this work to be completed in the next few months. 

It is thrilling to start the year with a renewed sense of clarity about who we are and who we want to become. We are thankful to be on this journey with you and look forward to everything our community can achieve together in 2020 and beyond!

Barry Dequanne (twitter: @dequanne)

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash