Flexible Custom School Schedule - Balance Work Life

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s New Year’s Day, and I’m on my way to the Copperbowl Tennis Tournament in Tucson, Arizona; one of the great “Gold Ball” competitions for Junior Tennis players. I’ve traveled from Ojai, California, to talk with parents and students about Laurel Springs School. What a great opportunity! I get to share our unique approach to education with these focused and committed families who choose to compete at the Copperbowl Tennis Competition on New Year’s Day – often far away from family and friends.

Why do I attend? Why do I make this trip? Because it’s important; because I believe that a compassion-based education, built on a strong educational foundation, is key to supporting the development of happy, focused young adults – students empowered by a dream.

This trip reminds me of comments made by Laurel Springs’ alumna, Tanith Belbin, soon after she won the 2006 Olympic Silver Medal for Ice Dance in Torino, Italy.
“When I began to realize that my skating was expanding from a hobby into a career, my hours spent on the ice increased – and my availability to attend a standard school became less and less,”(Skate Magazine, November, 2006) said Belbin. “My family and I decided that if I were to continue skating, I would have to find a balance between my athletic and academic careers that did not compromise one for the other.”

When Tanith heard about Laurel Springs through a fellow skater, her initial reaction was, “This must be too good to be true – a school that can actually mold around my own schedule, so that I can reach my full potential in both aspects of my life.”

I love Tanith’s comments; they meld so perfectly with our simple, but precious philosophy: that education can work hand-in-hand with a student’s dreams, goals, and aspirations. One doesn’t need to be sacrificed for the other. Better yet, students can experience an even richer, deeper, more meaningful education, because they are fulfilled in other areas of their lives.

Like Tanith, Laurel Springs believes that reaching one’s true potential includes a robust, meaningful education. I’ve found that support from the Laurel Springs community is key for each child in facilitating this growth. Therefore, we’re the only distance learning program that incorporates this multitude of services:
• enrollment and college counselors,
• assessment of each student’s learning style,
• a variety of standards-based curricular options that enhance learning,
• NCAA and UC-approved courses,
• a chapter of National Honor Society,
• clubs,
• forums,
• prom,
• graduation, and
• loving teachers to mentor the process.

As Tanith said, it almost sounds too good to be true. The secret is this: we allow our students to incorporate passion, purpose, and talent into their educations – so simple, so important, and so very empowering.

So, as my plane lands in Tucson, I think of all the lives we have touched and the many more to come. I feel a sense of excitement. Who will I meet on this trip? What young girl or boy with a dream will I encounter who may one day say, “Laurel Springs allowed me to fulfill my potential”?

For me that would be a great New Year’s gift. . .

Marilyn Mosley Gordanier
Founder/Executive Director, Laurel Springs School

Marilyn Mosley blog

A Great New Year's Gift

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