Opening Assembly Remarks 2008

Welcome back!

I have been asked to speak briefly this morning about the renovation and restoration of Kingsley Laboratories.Before I begin. I wanted to ask all of you, what do you think about how Kingsley turned out?

Yeah, I am pretty excited about it too.

It may seem that somehow, magically, the building went from being tired, and in need of some TLC to being shiny, new, state of the art and smelling clean and fresh.
But it didn’t happen so easily, it took over 18 months of planning and hard work to pull the project together and complete it on time.

Behind me you will see a slide show that starts on the day the project began, with the hard work of the Kingsley faculty and staff packing and preparing to move out. It took over 8 tractor trailers, 15 movers and two days to store the hundreds of boxes, furniture and materials. Furniture that was no longer needed was recycled so that it could be sent to areas devasted by natural disasters. And on Friday, May 27th 2008, the building was empty, exactly 1 year earlier to the date that we sat in the Library seminar room looking at the first set of architectural drawings.

In the days and weeks that followed, an army of contractors, workers, foremen, laborers, project managers spent countless hours in the middle of the summer heat, through countless wet and stormy afternoons working on a scope that included restoring the entire exterior and interior of this beautiful and historic building. For those of you who do not know, Kingsley Laboratories was built in 1897. Dr. Abercrombie, who was the headmaster, had spent time in Europe studying the education system. He realized that in the United States, we were failing to adequately prepare students in the study of math and science. He came back from his travels with a bold vision. He recognized that Worcester, a thriving industrial city during that period was also home to WPI, which was at the forefront of creating the future scientists and mathematicians of the time. He decided that Worcester Academy should take a bold step and create a shift in they way it educated its students, and so Kingsley Labs was born. In 1897, it was state of the art and many came to visit and learn how they could replicate this type of learning resource at their own schools. Over the 100 plus years that has passed, Kingsley and the other historic buildings on our campus have served to inspire our students and faculty to achieve great things.

Today in 2008, Kingsley is again state of the art. It makes use of new technologies designed to decrease our use of power and make better use of natural sunlight through lighting fixtures that can sense the amount of sunlight entering into a room and automatically adjust to keep the level consistent throughout the day. It contains renewable materials such as the flooring and cabinet fixtures. It has been equipped with the latest technologies designed to give all of you the ability to explore, create, investigate, design, and solve important problems.

But most importantly, Kingsley now serves to remind us of two very important aspects of what it means to be a part of this amazing school. First, that it would be irresponsible of us to forget our past, to ignore our tradition and to push aside our history. It is this rich history that inspired the future leaders and creative thinkers of their time. But it is also there to serve as a reminder of our bright and innovative future. It is there to remind us of our responsibility to engage with one another as a learning community. Our belief that each of you, every student in this gymnasium represents infinite and vast potential. So consistent with our core values I charge you this year with the following.

Respect the hard work and dedication of those people who spent countless hours working, restoring, preparing and cleaning the building so that it would be ready for all of us at the start of the school year. Take care of it and all the buildings on this campus. It is our campus and it is our place. Let us show each other and the campus the respect it deserves.

Challenge one another in your courses of study. Push yourselves to find that which inspires you. I believe that in this room exists the potential for great things. I often wonder, which of you will someday find the cure to AIDS or Cancer. Which of you will discover the ability to find an inexpensive and sustainable energy source. Which of you will be inspired by either your math or biology teacher to explore the new area of study known as computational biology. Which relies on the ability of mathematicians to combine their skills with those of other scientists, bringing powerful perspectives to problems that were once thought to be too hard to solve. Is there a Pulitzer or Noble Prize winner in literature or poetry? The road to that potential begins with your willingness to engage with one another and your teachers. At the same time, think of the cleaning staff or carpenter who made the room you are in conducive to learning.

And lastly, let us Honor the legacy of Dr. Abercrombie, whose vision to create a school that was innovative and leading edge led Worcester Academy to 175 years of rich tradition and excellence.
I hope that you love the building as much as I do. There are far too many people to thank, and for each of you that was involved in some way, Thank you. But I want to leave you with this thought. Without all of you here, Kingsley is nothing more than a very beautiful but very empty building. It is wonderful to have all of you back and have a great year!