INSTALLATION SPEECH

Address Presented by Diane J. Hulse During her Installation as the 15^th Head of Staten Island Academy, October 2, 2002

It is a great honor to stand before you this evening.  I am particularly honored that there are so many students here. With all of my heart, I thank you for your support, your kind words, your good wishes, and I thank you for coming here tonight. 

I joyfully assume the responsibilities of my office.  I love being the fifteenth Head of Staten Island Academy.

This is a very special, emotional night for me.  I am deeply honored by the words and the presence of our three distinguished speakers.  It is very meaningful for me to have Mr. Calder, Mr. Dresden, and Mrs. McCray here.  They have taken time out of their busy lives and have come from great distances - upstate New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC - to be here tonight.   

All three of these people have been and continue to be important mentors in my professional life.  I have known Joyce McCray since 1977, Jake Dresden since 1980, and Fred Calder since 1987. 

Fred Calder has mentored me about independent schools.  He taught me about school governance and accreditation and how boards and heads form a partnership to provide the best possible education for children.  Jake Dresden taught me how big, prestigious independent schools function, how to get big things done in schools, and how to turn a dream into reality.  Joyce McCray taught me to have a dream. 

My three mentors have been beacons in my life.  Like the beacon on a lighthouse, my mentors have guided me through rough seas, kept me from crashing on the rocks, and shined a bright light on my future.

It is very much the same with Staten Island Academy.  Staten Island Academy is a beacon.  The Academy has been the mentor and the guiding light for many generations of children.

 Since 1884, Staten Island Academy's beacon has lit the lamp of learning.

There are many real lighthouses in the waters around Staten Island.  One of them that still stands is named the Robbin's Reef Lighthouse, and it is located in the bay near the St. George ferry terminal.  I read recently that in the late 1880's, a woman named Kate Walker lived with her family in the lighthouse.  In fact, Kate was living at Robbin's Reef Lighthouse when our school was founded.  When Kate's husband died, she became the lighthouse keeper.  His parting words to her were, "Mind the light, Kate."  And she did from 1886 until 1919 when she retired and moved to Staten Island.  Every night while Kate was the lighthouse keeper, she took the lamp and lit the flame that was magnified by the lighthouse lens into a beacon that warned ships away from the shallow waters.  Every day, Kate put her children in a boat and rowed them from the lighthouse back and forth to school on Staten Island.  In addition to warning ships away from the rocks, Kate Walker saved the lives of dozens of people who had fallen into the harbor. 

I am sure that Kate Walker took her job very seriously.  She knew how important her work was.  She knew that people depended upon her and that they looked to her for guidance as they sailed across the bay.  She had awesome responsibilities.

Kate's story really resonates with me.  I identify with her.  In many ways, I feel like I am the lighthouse keeper at Staten Island Academy.  My job is to make sure that the Academy light burns brightly, that the school sails towards excellence, that it doesn't flounder on the rocks, and that our lamp of learning is magnified for all to see.  Like Kate, I know how important my job is.  I have awesome responsibilities.

I am very fortunate to have come to a school with a distinguished history.  Staten Island Academy rests on the strong foundation that was built by our alumni, past parents, and former faculty and board members.  It is the job of all of us who are associated with the school now, however, to do more than rest on our laurels.  We must build upon the foundation we have inherited, and we must reach higher and for bigger dreams than ever before. 

We can no longer hide our light under a bushel nor stay tied to the dock.

There's an important way in which Kate Walker's job is different from mine.  Kate worked alone. I do not.  I have all of you. 

I count on you - faculty, students, parents, grandparents, alumni, board members, colleagues, and friends -- to mind the light with me. 

I hope that my mentors will be proud of me:  Joyce - I have a dream about Staten Island Academy.  Jake - I know how to turn a dream into reality.  Fred - I know how schools work.

So, here is my dream:

Located high on Todt Hill, Staten Island Academy will be an academic and intellectual beacon whose light will serve as a guide to educational excellence for all children in the New York metropolitan area.  One hundred percent of Staten Island Academy's students will be recruited by and admitted to America's best colleges and universities.  One hundred per cent of Staten Island Academy's teachers will be leaders in their fields.

Kate Walker was the lighthouse keeper at Robbin's Reef Lighthouse for 23 years.  Twenty-three years from now, I will be too old to be a Head of School, so I'd like to see these dreams realized before then.

Here's what I believe:

You cannot be extraordinary by doing what everyone else does.

You cannot be a leader unless you are leading.

Just as I willingly and joyfully assume my awesome responsibilities, I ask that all of you do the same.  Whether you are a board member, a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, an alumnus, a friend, or a student, I ask that you do your part.  Together we will raise the school to new heights.

In closing, let me say that whatever wisdom I might impart pales in comparison to children's.  Children know what is important.  Recently I invited the Lower School children to visit me in my office.  Third graders wrote me thank you letters. [Mrs. Hulse read two letters from children. One young man noted that Staten Island Academy is "like a light."]

For these and all of the other wonderful children in Staten Island Academy, join me in taking Staten Island Academy to where it has never before gone.