Imagine you have a box of crayons, each contributing its own unique color to create a beautiful masterpiece. Similarly, each one of you is like a special crayon, adding your own hue to the world. Being yourself means embracing everything that makes you who you are – your likes, dislikes and talents. But it takes courage to show the world your true colors, especially when others may not understand or appreciate your uniqueness.
Our world is like a giant coloring book, and each of you brings something special to its pages. So, embrace your uniqueness, be proud of who you are, and remember you’re all incredible just as you are. When you have the courage to be yourself, you give others permission to do the same, creating a world where everyone can shine in their own way.
This week, we kick off our 2022-2023 Annual Fund. It is our largest fundraiser of the year and supports all 272 Clairbourn students in areas like art, music, athletics, technology, the library, Spanish, and so much more. Because of Clairbourn, students have amazing opportunities every day to discover what excites, what they love, and what supports the scholars and leaders with heart they become! It is because of YOU, we hope to reach our goal of 100% participation in our Annual Fund. It is because of YOU, together, we are Clairbourn!
Our daily Morning Assembly is a way our students, teachers, and parents build close connection, identify role models, and experience the reinforcement of positive messages.“Morning Assembly is my favorite time of the day. I enjoy this quiet time with my kids and our school community. I love starting my day with gratitude. It gives me such peace.” shared a current family. This special time not only lays a foundation for our Clairbourn life but also provides opportunities for our students to practice public speaking.
We believe what sets our students apart is the character of our Cougars. Our robust character education program is built on the school’s five core values: honesty, respect, responsibility, spirituality, and citizenship. Thank you to our middle school Student Council for starting the year with reminders about the importance of Clairbourn’s core values.
Our students are HONEST and truthful to themselves and others. They are RESPECTFUL because they know respect is the cornerstone for developing and maintaining a good, working relationship with all members of our community. RESPONSIBILITY is being accountable for their actions. Every time our students show Cougar pride and empathy for others, such as lending a hand to someone in need, their SPIRITUALITY comes through. Some of the qualities of spirituality include compassion, forgiveness, generosity, gratitude, humility, kindness, and a genuine love for humankind. We try to be the best we could possibly be, and recognize the best in everyone around us. Lastly, CITIZENSHIP is the value which calls for every member of a community to work to better that community with their actions and attitudes.
When diving deeper into our core values, you will see the one quality that surfaces over and over at Clairbourn: Gratitude. Our community, including students and faculty, are reminded each and every day not to overlook the good around us. We take quiet moments to think about something or someone we are grateful for, and something good that happened to us. We practice empathy, fairness, open-mindness, patience, and inclusiveness as a community. This gathering, which precedes academic work, is where students and school members come together as one. Clairbourn takes actions and embraces these values which help us grow to be Scholars and Leaders with Heart.
Clairbourn is about community: teachers are here to pick you up when you need a boost and friends are here to listen when you feel down. Special moments happen on our campus throughout the day each and every day. Clairbourn teaches love by living it: we celebrate love of all kinds, and most of all, we celebrate unconditional love. Our strong parent and school partnership is evident on a daily basis and the 2022 Spring Concert and Carnival were the perfect examples of what our school is all about!
Families came together to celebrate the meaning of friendship! Our students shared their joy as they thought of ALL the children around the world, no matter where they live or what language they speak. JPK to fifth grade students showed us what they have learned in music classes. Besides learning how to read and write music, they also learned how to play rhythms, use new instruments, and apply the solfege method!
Fourth and fifth graders shared with us the first step to friendship which is to tell the other person that they are your friend and you are a friend to them too. Kindergarteners taught us that showing kindness is one way to be a good friend. Preschool students reminded us how important it is to say I love you (with a skidamarink)! First and second graders showed us what being a great friend means to be there during all the highs and lows and be able to always count on each other. Children sang with pure joy and filled the campus with their passion and confidence. We laughed, smiled and embraced as a community!
At Clairbourn, we find countless opportunities to grow. Through music, we inspire and motivate creativity. We teach children to embrace challenges with positivity. Students become secure individuals and are able to see all the good around them. Just like the students reminded us, “Stay positive and don’t forget you are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
Special thank you to the music director for a great show, the administration for your support, to JPK throughfifth grade teachers for your assistance and patience,and to the maintenance crew for yourhard work and clever ideas!
There is no place like Clairbourn! Our students love coming to school from the moment they get dropped off to greet the Head of School, Dr. Patzlaff, and walk across the beautiful campus to their locker or class. “I can’t wait for school, every day!” said a second grader with great enthusiasm. We love seeing our students on campus and enjoy their cheers, laughter, and most of all their Clairbourn connection with one another.
Seeing the creative ways our students make their Clairbourn connections is truly extraordinary. Our older students prepared bags of popcorn and delivered them to each lower grade classroom as a cheer to celebrate a week of testing and National Movie Day. Student Council initiated a handprint project to connect students across different grade levels. Each fourth through eighth grade student made a handprint inside a heart shape, and then each kindergarten through third grade student added their handprint to complete a heart. Students produced two prints so each younger student could keep one heart and each older student could keep another. Students enjoyed finding out who belonged to the other handprint!
We asked our students why they are grateful for Clairbourn: “Clairbourn is a place I call home!” answered a six grader. “I love Clairbourn because it is caring.” a second grader said. “My teachers give up their free time to help us all the time.” A fifth grader shared.
Here at Clairbourn, students motivate each other and embrace growth together. They share successes and pick each other up as a team. These hearts handprints signify the love and care we all have for our school and each other. Hand in hand and heart to heart, we are One Clairbourn!
Morning Assembly is one of Clairbourn’s long traditions. School members come together to hear announcements and start the day with gratitude and an inspirational message. The Clairbourn Code of Ethics – honesty, respect, responsibility, spirituality and citizenship — provide the basis for our Morning Assembly and students from first through eighth grade have an opportunity to work on their public speaking skills learning to confidently deliver a message in front of a large audience. It is a key component of our educational program and reinforces our core values.
Even though we can not yet return to meeting in person, our Morning Assembly tradition continues and we find new ways to celebrate this special time. Dr. Patzlaff and students record an assembly video and the classes view it each morning. We continue to thrive and stay connected as a community. The inspiration for this week’s assembly is love, which is a word used often for so many emotions.
“I love that color on you.” To a friend. “I just love pizza.” To yourself. “I love, love, love you!” To grandchildren.
According to the University of Utah Health, there are Four Types of Love: Eros (“air-rose”) is a romantic love. It can cause great joy and sorrow, like the story of Romeo and Juliet. Philia (“Fill-lee-ah”) is love of friends and equals. It can be love between siblings and friends, and helps us be resilient when hard times come. Another type of love is storge (“store-gay”). This is the love of parents and guardians for children. It is described as the most natural of loves and the foundation for happiness and contentment. The fourth type of love is agape (“ah-gah-pay”). It is the love that is given whether or not it is returned. This kind of love is important in the process of forgiveness, which is important to our mental health. Expressing love for others is the best way to be happy and find joy in your daily living.
C.S. Lewis described a mother’s love for a child in The Chronicles of Narnia as “humble.” Parents’ love for their child is not about grand gestures but the steadfast, reliable, humble care, concern, and nurturing given freely that enables children to thrive and grow. C.S. Lewis also wrote about friendship. He believed that friendships begin by finding something in common, and then was freely given. Friendships can blossom anywhere we are doing common things together: on the playground, in the classroom, on the playing field.
Love comes in many forms: it could be food in our belly, a roof over our head or simply a reassuring hug after a tough day. Love is around us all the time and we can show love every day.
Clairbourn, as a community, is grateful each and every day for the simplest things we have in life and we celebrate all kinds of love!
