[Superintendent's Update] Superintendent's Update

Sun May 6 12:30:37 EDT 2007

Dear Parents and Guardians:

A few updates for you and your family as we begin a new week:

•  Recently the Needham Police Chief, Thomas Leary, and I signed an
updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining the working
relationship between the school and police departments.  The original MOU
was signed several years ago by former police and school representatives. 
The new agreement is more focused and outlines general procedures for
communication between the two departments with an emphasis on providing
optimum student and school safety and security.  The police chief and I
believe it is prudent to have a clear understanding about school and
police responsibilities in the event illegal or criminal behavior is ever
a concern within our schools.

The MOU is one of the many collaborative efforts undertaken by the police
and school department this year and highlights our commitment to ensure
safe, secure, and healthy school environments in the Needham Public
Schools. The MOU can be found on the school department’s website: [
http://www.needham.k12.ma.us/pdf_downloads/%20School-Police_MOU.pdf
]http://www.needham.k12.ma.us/pdf_downloads/%20School-Police_MOU.pdf

• Chief Leary and I will both participate in a parent forum entitled:  “Be
a Parent, Not a Pal” Tuesday evening, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Needham
High School library.  This will be an opportunity for parents to hear from
school, police, and legal representatives about underage drinking and
parent responsibility, especially as we enter into the prom and graduation
party season.  There will be ample opportunity for parents to ask
questions and make suggestions about how we can work together as a
community to ensure our young people are safe and sober.  We look forward
to seeing you at this important forum.  For more information about this
program, contact the high school’s Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator,
Deb Engler at [ mailto:Deborah_engler at needham.k12.ma.us
]Deborah_engler at needham.k12.ma.us

•  Needham High School is proud to recognize five extraordinary seniors
who have been named National Merit Finalists as part of the National Merit
Scholarship Program: Kim Baldouf, Hannah Freeman, Daniel Gu, Christina
Kelly, and Jeff Wong.  These students were chosen among 1.4 million
original participants in the PSAT National Merit Scholars Qualifying Test.
 Our five students were chosen from a final round of 15,000 students who
met additional academic qualifications.  It is very unusual for a high
school of our size to have so many students honored with this designation.
 Congratulations to these terrific young scholars from Needham High School!

•  I was pleased to speak at last week’s National Honor Society Induction
ceremony at Needham High School.  Congratulations to the two dozen juniors
who met the NHS standards for Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and
Character and were inducted during the formal ceremony.  These young
people clearly represent the high academic standards of Needham High
School and the school’s commitment to the community and leadership.  A few
parents suggested I share my remarks, so I have included them below.

As always, please contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions:  [
mailto:dan_Gutekanst at needham.k12.ma.us ]dan_Gutekanst at needham.k12.ma.us

Sincerely,

Dan Gutekanst
Superintendent

National Honor Society Induction Ceremony 
Needham High School 
Daniel E. Gutekanst 
April 26, 2007 

Good afternoon Mr. Richards, Faculty, Parents, Guests, NHS Members, and
NHS Inductees. I am very pleased to be here and to celebrate your
accomplishment!  This is my first year as superintendent in Needham and I
am thrilled to participate in a celebration of student excellence and
achievement.  I have had the privilege of seeing some of you in class, on
the fields, at meetings, or even on the stage over the last several
months, and I could not be prouder of who you are and what you represent
to the community.  This ceremony today is an honor for you personally, but
I assure you that it is also meaningful to the high school and Needham
communities. 

Of all the qualities required for admission into the Needham High School
Chapter of the National Honor Society—scholarship, service, leadership,
and character—I am going to suggest to our inductees that the most
significant quality is character.  Character. Why character, and, say, not
scholarship? After all, this is the NHS and we are all about academics and
scholarship. 

Well, I believe each of these attributes is critical to this prestigious
organization and, of course, to your present and future success.  But I
believe character, your character, supports and nurtures scholarship,
leadership, and service.  I believe character is a prerequisite to lead
and live a successful and fulfilling life. Without character, it is
unlikely you will use your mind, heart, and hands to expand your
knowledge, enrich your learning, or serve others in a meaningful way. 

Each of you has wonderfully rich personal gifts—good looks, intelligence,
charm, athletic and musical prowess.  You have thus far demonstrated an
ability to hit the books, tutor a kid, or captain a team. And you have
also demonstrated responsibility, diligence, and teamwork—those
attributes, that character, are the stuff of your success. 

A high GPA, a big win on the field, or the number of community service
hours racked up may get us through the door but by themselves they cannot
be the goal.  In fact, these achievements are meaningless if, in the end,
we do not have the strength of character to do the right thing, the
courageous thing, the just thing, when called upon.  I know your teachers
have challenged you in the classroom, and I know they have encouraged
respect, fairplay, and honesty. In fact, I have come to learn in my short
time here that the teachers and administrators seek to develop and
strengthen your character.  And they believe this is critical.  It is. 

Haim Ginot, a Holocaust survivor, wrote a chilling letter to teachers
after he survived the horrors of the Nazis. He wrote: “Dear Teacher... I
am a survivor of a concentration camp.  My eyes saw what no man should
witness. Gas chambers built by learned engineers.  Children poisoned by
educated physicians.  Infants killed by trained nurses.  Women and babies
shot by high school and university graduates.  So I am suspicious of
education.  My request is this:  help your students become human.  Your
efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated
Eichmanns.” He concludes: “ Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important
only if they serve to make our children more humane.” 

I would add that AP courses, varsity athletic letters, first violin in the
orchestra... and even membership in the National Honor Society are only
important if they serve to strengthen your understanding of yourself, of
others, and provide you the tools you need to make this a better world. It
is hard work, patience, tolerance, respect, honesty, caring, and for many
of you your faith—in short, it is your character that will enable your
continued growth and success. 

When things get tough, and they inevitably will; when you are all alone,
and you most certainly will be, it is your inner strength, your depth of
character that will allow you to accept fear with courage, defeat with
grace, and success with humility.  Your character is what you will draw on
to do the right thing. 

Congratulations for demonstrating a commitment to learning. You would not
be here this afternoon if you were unable to prove your worthiness in the
classroom and within the school community.  But it is your humanity, your
character, that will sustain you and will enrich a world that desperately
needs your scholarship, service, and leadership. 

Thank you.

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