Indio, CA
Upon being invited to write about our decision to include South Kent in our estate plans, I began thinking about the school and all that it has meant to me.
Such thoughts led me to the SKS website where one of the first categories I saw was the daily menu. And what a menu it is. And a chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. Wow. For alumni of my era that’s pretty startling.
Of course, also listed and discussed on the website, are the core values – Simplicity of Life, Self-Reliance, Directness of Purpose. Even in those long-ago days, it was something of a culture shock to find out just how seriously Sam Bartlett took the value of simplicity.
Since our diets were restricted (one box of Milk Duds on Saturday night hardly counts), I think we should be forever grateful that there were those Sunday afternoon teas. Aside from ingesting as much sugar as possible, the caring family atmosphere at the faculty homes gave us some relief from the demands and isolation of life on the Hill.
I’m sure that many remember other examples of the caring faculty that helped us. During Fourth Form, I was failing Wynn Wister’s Latin class. He tutored me at night until I eventually grasped the joys of the ablative absolute. Frankly, I don’t know which helped me more; being tutored by Wynn or sitting afterward in their living room talking with him and Sally.
That summer, I worked on the school’s summer crew with Reuben Lee. Our jobs were basically the same as the student jobs during the school year with one big difference. We had the school jeep.
Evenings and weekends we could drive to Kent or Salisbury or Danbury or wherever. We also met the Kent school summer crew and frequently arranged to get together for nights of teenage fun. In effect, we had freedom.
Absent was the feeling of being locked up. Over the years after graduating, I used to think about whether our isolation was a good or bad aspect of our education. Was the caring, supportive atmosphere of South Kent too much of a warm nest. Were we being properly prepared for our adult lives or was there a reality factor missing?
One answer I found is to look at the core values as the big picture. Like having the jeep that summer. We had our freedom, but we also had to take care of the jeep. Another example from that summer is that Sam Bartlett told me to weed all the dandelions on Fathers’ Field. A few days later, I had to leave before the end of my contract due to a family emergency. I think I may have finished part of the end zone, and I forgot to explain my departure to Sam before I left.
When I returned in September, the Old Man took me aside and asked, “When are you going to finish your weeding job?” What could I say? He was right. It took me a while to see that he was kidding, but being Sam, he was still giving me a lesson in responsibility.
Bonnie shares my love and appreciation of the school and we are pleased to name South Kent as a principal charitable beneficiary. We hope others will do the same.