Right now, I am thankful for many people and places mostly, and feeling abundantly blessed.  Among the amazing miracles that I am also thankful for is our lemon tree.  That’s right, in St. Louis, MO, on a gray, wet, dark day, we have, in our porch room, a blooming lemon tree with about 30 lemons on it in various stages of ripening!   People are amazed when they see it, like a perfect manifestation of the goodness of the planet, offering lemons in a cold climate all winter long.  We give lemons to friends when they visit.  They exclaim, cup ... read more...

Designing a New School for the 21st Century To an educator is there anything more exciting (or daunting) than starting a new school?  I don’t think so.  I’ve done it twice (if you count the complete renovation of The St. Michael School, both the building and the curricula).  And now, I’m privileged to be a consultant to another new school in the making, Bennett Day School in Chicago. After six months of working with the creators of Bennett, I realize that, in their process they are using the very 21st Century skills that they plan to engender at Bennett.  In ... read more...