Transferring the Community Service Scepter

The story behind this title transfer began a long time ago, about 19 years to be exact. I had just returned from my second fall EDT as a teacher—a memorable trip on which Ms. Pidduck and I took a group of 9th graders to Golden Trout. This is the trip on which Ms. Pidduck clearly convinced me of her unbounded patience as she took up the rear of the group, creeping up the trail towards Muir Lake with one poor student who was literally crawling—yes, on his hands and knees—up the trail. And there was Ms. Pidduck, inching behind him, doling out encouragement like Halloween candy, coaxing and cajoling, trying to convince this 9th grader to give walking a try. She was ultimately unsuccessful, but it sure made for a memorable trip.

Upon my return, Mr. Perry and I discovered, to our delight, that I was pregnant with our first child. We were thrilled, of course, and then the reality began to set in. How were we going to juggle the demands of two Thacher full-time jobs—teaching, coaching, camping, advising, and the like—with a baby in the mix? The teaching and advising, well, we were just going to have to make that work (Thank God for Monica Ros!), but when it came down to coaching, we had a conundrum. Mr. Perry was teaching English at that point and coaching jv boys' basketball and track. I was coaching jv volleyball and 3rd team girls' soccer. He was really good and cared a good deal, I was fair to middling at best. The choice of who would continue coaching was clear. But, what was I to do?

Fortunately, at that point, David Johnston was the director of the Community Service program, and he offered to step down to allow me to take that program on, in place of coaching. As I had grown up in Ojai and, therefore, was well aware of Thacher's reputation in town as being somewhat aloof and removed, I jumped at the chance, for it would help with our childcare plans and allow me to get involved in the Ojai community. I finished up the year with my prior coaching commitments (although, I will admit that coaching 3rd team girls' soccer while pregnant was an adventure, as I spent most of the practices trying to avoid being inadvertently whacked in the belly with a ball as errant passes were more the norm than the anomaly). Jordan was born on the last day of classes that year, and I began my CommServe headship in the fall of 1999.

So began almost twenty years of opportunities to discover ways to connect to and to interact with the members of the Ojai and Ventura communities and to appreciate the generosity of spirit of many of my colleagues. Consider, for instance, the dedication of, Mr. Meyer, who for over 15 years has lead the CommServe singers in their weekly concerts for members of local retirement homes or Mr. Sawyer's wife, Ms Jones (who doesn't officially work here!) who takes her Sunday evening group to St. Joesph's to chat with the residents there. Then there are the in-town connections as well. I have developed many strong and lasting relationships with some people who run pretty phenomenal organizations in our midst: Lyn Thomas, the pastor of the Ojai Wesleyan Church with whom we serve meals to the homeless; the two dedicated volunteers who run the Ojai Library's annual book sales; the principals of Topa Topa, San Antonio, and our own Ms. Hardenbergh who always welcome Thacher student tutors; Grace Bueti Malloy and BD Dauch, two local farmers, who open their land to help our students better understand where our food comes from and the most sustainable ways to produce it; the coaches of the AYSO VIP program, who match our students with soccer players with special needs; the caretakers at the Turtle Conservancy, who allow Thacher kids to work with the over 600 turtles they protect and nurture; and, probably nearest and dearest to my heart, coach Peter Magnus and the Ventura County Special Olympics track and field team.

I feel particularly connected to this last group because, as hard as it may be to believe, the group of athletes with whom I started to work—with Jordan strapped to my chest in a Baby Björn—hasn't changed that much. There's a predictable cast of characters: Jeff (who really hates to walk, but you can get him to do the warm-up laps if you ask him to tell you about the newest Transformer), Scotty (who has to be almost 70 by now), Ana the team’s Energizer bunny who runs, and runs, and runs, grinning from ear to ear as she circles the track, Michael, who can long jump almost out of the pit, and the other Michael, who films himself and posts his videos on his blog saying, "If I can do this, so can you." This rather motley band keeps showing up, day after day, year after year. That baby who was strapped in and drooling on my chest is now a sophomore in college and the other one, slightly less drooly, is well into her senior year, while Jeff and Ana, Michael, Michael, and Scotty are still plugging away, giving that 50-yard dash their best shot. That, my friends, is tenacity and grit.

Well, I'm here today to recognize a transfer of title. I'd like to invite Ms. Snyder and Ms. Grant to come down. While I hope to remain involved with these programs, as I can't imagine not spending my winter Saturday mornings talking Transformers with Jeff, Ms. Grant and Ms. Snyder have taken over the duchy (I had to look that up, it means lands belonging to a dutchess) of CommServe. Long may they reign!