Let’s say you are to dream up a list of qualifications for people you would choose to guide your children to discover their greatest gifts and master 21st century skills.

Wouldn’t you dream big? Wouldn’t you come up with a crazy list requiring those people to be:

• Passionate about children and lifelong learning;
• Off the charts smart, deeply curious and always learning;
• Entrepreneurial – innovative, proactive, a problem-solver, self-managed, courageous, wise in risk taking and decision-making;Visionary and forward thinking yet solidly grounded in the real world;
• Healthy and happy – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically;
• Independent and hard working;
• Collaborative and generous with ideas;
• Creative and free thinking while deeply responsible and dependable;
• Humble – no need to be the center of the learning for that is for the children;
• Comfortable with change and new ideas;
• And, of course, kind and compassionate?

This is an extraordinary list of qualifications. Can you hold a human up to such expectations? And this list doesn’t even include the essential skills and knowledge required to write and deliver world-class curriculum, guide discussions, manage technology, communicate effectively and organize and analyze data.

Would you dare to dream this big? I believe we parents would give the same answer: Yes!

This truly is our pie-in-the-sky list we use in hiring guides. And, Yes! We fulfilled it in the rare group of humans who have guided the Acton Eagles with such a high degree of excellence this year:

Kaylie, Anna, Samantha, Terri, Abigail, Jeff and Jeff.

Brian Holtz, our new middle school apprentice guide, also fulfills our vision of a dream guide and is waiting in the wings to join the team in August.

While sharing these traits, each of our Socratic Guides has his or her own unique genius and masterfully makes an imprint on daily life at Acton Academy.

As we close this academic year, I celebrate the gift of our guides and thank them, from the depths of my heart, for their work each day. I wish them rest and renewal even while we work together toward the next chapter in the story of Acton Academy.