The Story of Olive and Emma

On this 2019 edition of Fathers' Day, I simply burst with pride and love. Why? Because my daughter, Emma Reppun just signed her first teacher contract. While pursuing her masters in education and a teaching certificate, she will be an apprentice kindergarten teacher at Marin Country Day School, just north of San Francisco. But this is also the story of another father bursting with pride on this special day. His name is Sherwin Santos, a colleague at Apple and father of Olive Santos, who just received a very special award. More on Olive in a minute.

My daughter started down the road to education in my classroom at La Pietra, Hawaiʻi School for Girls. Raised in California, Emma's spring breaks were spent with me in Hawaiʻi. During school days, she would hang out in my classroom. Through osmosis my student-centered, Socratic-driven, media rich, project-based voice and choice style of teaching infused itself into her DNA. Over the years, through high school and college, Emma and I spent countless hours talking about the goings on my classroom, my students' projects and the creativity, imagination and innovation I sought. After college Emma worked for a start-up superfoods company, then dabbled in teaching, first at a Montessori school, then as an assistant teacher for a "forest friends" program in Marin County. Over time I noticed, and she began to express, a love for the "kiddos," aka kindergarten age children. (Over the past three years Emma has also helped me on countless occasions move forward my Most Likely to Succeed, @MLTSinHawaii program with Ted Dintersmith. More osmotic infusions ensued.) She spent the 2018/2019 school year working as a multi-grade teaching assistant at the Brandeis School in Marin, testing the teaching waters. And now, after some deliberation, and a multi-school tussle over her resume, Emma has decided to be a kindergarten teacher at Marin Country Day. Be still my heart...and joy to her future kiddos.

Lots of fathers who are teachers see their sons and daughters also take up the noble profession. Why is Emma's choice so special to me? For most teachers it takes a lifetime to develop a credo, a philosophy of education, if they develop one at all. Emma has already penned her credo; its words literally cause me to choke up: To safeguard and encourage children's natural sense of wonder; to facilitate a passionate love of learning; to create and hold safe space for exploration, growth and connection; to build resilience and growth mindset thinking; to be present; to be kind; to lead with my heart, and work each day to be worthy of imitation. Emma, not even a certified teacher yet, sees children the same way Sir Ken Robinson does: as sprouts that will grow themselves if we provide rich, nutritious and organic soil for their roots. Children are not deficits to be corrected. They are Kale plants bursting into the sunlight, energized by the chemistry and biology of their environments. That Emma knows this so early in her teaching career makes my heart sing. Imagine the hundreds and thousands of kiddos who will grow tall and strong because of the wisdom of her guidance, coaching and mentoring.

In fact, we don't have to imagine such a thing. Why? Because Olive Santos and her Dad, Sherwin provide us with perfect evidence of Sir Ken's perfect truth. Frankly I don't know Olive all that well. I have never met her in person, yet I have heard countless stories about her from her proud papa during Apple customer interludes and via text. Sherwin, born in Manila but raised from an early age in New York, currently works at Apple as an "expert." In many ways he has quietly mentored/coached me as I struggled to master the complexities of my position selling devices and activating phones. Over time I have learned Sherwin is a "maker master," meaning he is that rare combination of brain and hands. He is a prodigious reader who codes, builds circuit boards and drones and robots and the gods only know what else (Storm Trooper suits, I think). His mind is constantly in overdrive, but he works precisely and carefully and mindfully. He pays careful attention to current events. I know because I have seen him in action. All the while I was learning about Sherwin's skills, habits and dispositions, I was learning about Olive's DNA as well. Over time, Sherwin and I got to talking about education. He peppers me with questions about which schools Olive would thrive in. Many of our conversations centered around Olive's current school, Waikiki Elementary, and the conditions under which she might flourish. Especially cool for me were the moments when Sherwin noted his daughter's growing predisposition towards asking open ended questions, as in: Daddy, how are you feeling today?

So why am I telling you all this? Because a couple weeks ago Waikiki Elementary awarded Olive a most singular honor: Mindful Student of the Year. OMG, how cool is that? Sherwin sent me this photo via iMessage. Here is my reply text: Seriously, Sherwin, your photo makes my day. What a testament to the two of you. I know most parents don’t want photos of their kids posted online, but if you were willing, I would love to use it in a broader article I am working on, on LinkedIn, where I do my journaling. So, Sherwin and Olive, here are a few thoughts for you. Years from now, after a ton of subject studies, tests, exams and competitive hoop jumping, you two will look back at this photo as documentary evidence of the greatest of accolades. I predict, Olive that you will likely graduate high school with a high GPA, top SAT scores and a long resume of accomplishments. But all that will, I predict, take a back seat to being named Mindful Student of the Year. All that will pale in comparison to the photo you two will surely frame and place in the front hallway. Why? Because testing is rooted in deficit correction, but mindfulness is the key to living a good life. To be mindful is to be truly human. To be mindful is to be predisposed towards empathy and compassion. To be mindful is to be locally, nationally and globally aware. To be mindful is to be fully capable of appreciating art, dance, culture and society. Being mindful is a prerequisite to leadership. Open-ended questions come from mindfulness. Community grows in the loamy, rich soil that is mindfulness. How stoked am I that you, Olive and my daughter, Emma occupy your special spaces on Planet Earth? Stoked, I am. Here is a quote for you, oh daughter of my colleague: Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; live the actual moment. Only this moment is life. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh