On August 21, the entire Mount Vernon community – students, faculty, staff, and families – came together to pioneer tomorrow and kick off the start of the 2017-2018 school year.
Illustrating how to pioneer tomorrow, Dr. Jacobsen shared a story about two ordinary boys – Wilbur and Orville Wright – who pursued their passion for flight by being curious, experimenting, researching, and never giving up:
“They changed the world without even knowing it. In Christ Jesus – you are created for good works. In that, were all created to design a better world. God is calling us to a purpose beyond ourselves. To design a better world – we have to look up from our screens and look around us. To design a better world – we have to remove the distractions from our lives. To design a better world – we have to prepare, prepare, prepare. In Preschool through grade 12 we have an incredible training ground. You are surrounded by teachers and families who are trying to equip you with the most relevant tools possible to make an impact in the world. You have to make sacrifices and overcome setbacks. It took the Wright brothers four years just to travel 40 yards in 12 seconds. In order to design a better world – we have to open our hands, our hearts and our minds to new possibilities and new opportunities. You have to engage in our diverse world, in order to find solutions to complex problems. You cannot participate from the sidelines to design a better world.”
Megan Lienau, senior and Head Prefect, has been at Mount Vernon for 13 years. In fact, while on stage, she wore the t-shirt that was given to her as a Kindergartener in 2005, celebrating the groundbreaking of the current Upper School building. As she shared her excitement to be able to follow her passions throughout her journey at the School, she impressed upon her fellow classmates, “Donβt just show up, be all in. Whether you are in your 15th year like me, or this is your first year as a Mustang, you have the power to take ownership of the opportunities you are presented with. It has been with tremendous effort that I have seen Mount Vernon turn vision transformed into reality over and over again – be it the MAC, the Glenn Campus, the HIVE or creation of the Innovation Diploma. So I want you to keep this challenge with you throughout the year, Mustangs: take ownership of your time here, don’t just show up, be all in, turn your vision into reality, and truly Pioneer Tomorrow.Time and time again, Mount Vernon continues to turn vision into reality.”
Pioneer Tomorrow Capital Campaign Parent Chairs Todd and Debbie House invited the community to partner with them to invest today, in order to pioneer tomorrow, together. They explained how the newΒ Upper School buildingΒ is a game changer, “By expanding our facilities to match the growth of the School, we have a unique opportunity to build a space that is purpose-built for the relevant educational experience MVPS is committed to deliver.”
Watch the Convocation recap.
View the entire Convocation Gallery – password: mustangs
