We have several exciting community events coming up, from Celebrate Harbor (Have you RSVP’d?) to Spiral Night (Don’t miss it--March 22!), to the annual Auction on April 27 (80’s Mix Tape!), but one of my new favorites has to be the Talent Show. I was fortunate to serve as a guest “judge” at last year’s first annual show. I was blown away by the talent, poise, creativity, and confidence of our young learners, and found myself grasping for superlatives, as I repeatedly said, “Wow! Amazing! I loved it! That was AWESOME!”

The performances were indeed impressive as students displayed their dance moves, violin skills, magic tricks, and piano chops, but I was most impressed by their willingness to step up onstage in front of a capacity crowd of children and adults to show off their stuff. You would not have seen me getting up onstage voluntarily at that age - I once tried to flub a word to get out of the school spelling bee, but that’s a story for another day - and I still find it daunting to get up in front of a crowd!

The talent show is yet another testament to the mission of Harbor -- we embrace the uniqueness of each young child, and we teach our students to celebrate it in themselves and each other. Harbor kids feel both safe and self-assured when they get up in front of a crowd. It comes from their daily practice speaking in front of their peers in Morning Meeting, it comes from the positive encouragement they receive from their teachers, and it comes from our kind and caring community of families.

Kendra said it so well when she wrote about the talent show last spring:
“I often talk about how Harbor builds confidence in its students, how we support and guide children, celebrate them, and nudge them upwards and outwards. I think last night was a perfect example of how Harbor has fostered confidence. The message that is woven through each and every relationship at Harbor is that we love you, we support you, and we will be there for you. You can do it!”

Please encourage your child to sign up for the talent show, and please do attend- it’s a night you won’t soon forget!