Orchard's Core Values from Director of Middle School Jamie Napier

What follows below is a transcript of the speech I delivered to middle school students during town hall. If the language sounds awkward when read, try imagining the prose as spoken words.

 

We all have core values. They are your fundamental values and the basis for how you do things.

 

Orchard has core values.

 

Here is a concept for you. Chiasmus. A chiasmus is a literary device of reversing the grammar or concepts of an expression. “Loves fire heats water, water cools not love.” That’s Shakespeare, Sonnet 154 at the ending, I’m a swimmer, I like that one. It’s sort of like a flip turn in swimming. You go straight at something and then in the blink of an eye you do a pirouette somersault and leap off the wall going in the exact opposite direction.

 

I decided to try and play chiasmus, a reversal, on each of Orchard’s core values. To attempt to reverse the grammar or the concept. To be middle school.

 

You see middle school is in between. In elementary school, you get to be a child. In high school you’ll become an adult whether you’re ready or not, but you get to drive and vote and go to R-rated movies all before you get out of high school. But in middle school, everything gets turned about. You’re big but you’re not. You’re small but you’re not. You’re in between.

 

Friendship.
We have a core value called friendship? Remember it ain’t about you. Should you be a good friend? Certainly. Should you value friends? Absolutely. But the core-values do not guarantee you have friends. Chiasmus – would you loan a friend to another person who really needed a friend? Would you risk a friendship to keep another, a non-friend, from being friendless?

 

In Divergent terms - would you risk becoming factionless to ensure others stop kicking people out of your supposed faction? That’s a value.

 

Fairness.

It ain’t about you. Would you give up your portion to ensure others had what they needed? Would you go last to make sure there is enough for others? Fairness as a value is not about you getting your due, it is about others being valuable. When portions are given out and the person doing the measuring didn’t do a perfect job and there is one cup of water or container of food or desirable portion that is less than the others – do you take that one? Every teacher in your daily presence gets this core value.

 

Honesty. Yes you should tell the truth; but remember, you’re middle school, it ain’t about you and it ain’t that simple. How do you help others tell the truth? Not by telling on them when they lie, this isn’t about that. Not by correcting them, or giving a dirty look when they exaggerate. Those are too easy. Are you willing to hear the truth? Can you handle the truth? When I first got named middle school director many people didn’t know who I was. I would go to events and just be present. They would sometimes start talking about this guy named Jamie Napier who had been hired to direct the middle school and how he had his work cut out for him. I never interrupted or pointed out that I was Jamie Napier. I never lied, but I just let it sit as an unknown. They would often begin to highlight with great honesty their opinions and views the impossibility of Orchard and how there were challenges and inconsistencies and assumptions and list the difficulties. I would listen. I would listen very carefully. Later, as it would happen, they would learn who I was and sometimes they would be embarrassed. I always apologized and asked them not to be and would say things like – marketing agencies pay tens of thousands of dollars to get the level of honesty you just granted to me. All I feel is gratitude. Now that you know who I am, please never stop telling me what you really think. Do not hide it behind social pleasantries. Can you handle your truths? Honesty is a core value. Are you someone who can hear some else’s truth and love it for that reason alone?

 

Respect. Respect is a terribly misunderstood word, and remember again, it ain’t about you. How do you help others to have respect? Do you give away your respect? Do you respect someone even when they don’t deserve it? Respect is often based on actions or experiences rather than assumptions or hopes. Do you lease your respect and hope they purchase it later? Two years ago, in 2016 at North Central high school at the regional cross country meet Orchard was announced as the winning team. There was cheering and rejoicing and high fives all around. A job well done. The XC coach, Justin Burris, went up to the trophy table and instead of taking the trophy he began to whisper to the scorekeeper. Some other coaches were summoned up, a calculator was brought out. Justin already knew what they didn’t, Orchard got second place that day. Respect is about possessing qualities worthy of admiration. Often the best way to spread respect is to notice the things others do that increase your quality. True respect isn’t about the victories you demonstrate, it is about the qualities you illuminate and the expectations you cause to resonate in others.

 

Compassion. Compassion by its very nature implies it isn’t about you. It is about you having sympathy or empathy for others who might be less fortunate or less lucky or suffering in some way. So here is my compassion chiasmus. I challenge you to steal the thank you. I don’t mean take a thank you you’re not entitled to, I mean create acts of kindness for others where they don’t know who to thank. Revel in gratitude confusion. I don’t mean anonymous donations, but that is close. Cause your parents to think elves showed up and cleaned a room. Give a grateful hug for no reason at all. Straighten a mess or interrupt an embarrassment or stop a misunderstanding before it goes to sour. Appreciate the profound advantages you have access to and deploy them to serve others without the expectation of reciprocity. It is then you will eel just how powerful and important compassion can be.

 

Self-Discipline. Self-discipline is a challenge in the whole chiasmus effort. How do I talk about self-discipline and try to say it ain’t about you? Most people would say self-discipline is about resisting temptation or restraint. It is to many about doing the things we are supposed to do and not the things we want to do. Homework, dieting, chores, grooming, exercising, eating at a table and not in front of the TV. These are the things of self-discipline. But that is too easy. And it makes self-discipline into an ever failing and not very rewarding value. So here is the information on the value of self-discipline: start with why? Why have self-discipline? I mean really who cares? If you don’t brush your teeth or don’t do your homework a few times or eat an entire cake for breakfast . . . so what? Who is this self that you’re supposed to be disciplining anyway? [pause] That is the question, right there. Who are you? Why do you matter? If you are supposed to be a friend and fair and honest and worthy of giving respect, much less receiving it. If your compassion is to be worth the time it takes, then who are you? Is your self-discipline inflicted upon you by a pushy parent? A nagging sibling? A teacher who just seems to never think you can do it good enough? Who are you? Are you disciplining this person named self in order to improve self, or is it to keep others from bothering you? Are you building something of quality? Or are you avoiding shame and discomfort. Be honest. When you are doing your homework, is it because you want to know the knowledge for self? When you eat healthy, is it because you are investing in self? When do you realize not brushing your teeth punishes your future self. When do realize your messy room is a reflection of self. These are the ingredients of self-discipline. Self-discipline ain’t about the you of right now, it is about the you you hope to become. Do you intend to be a person of sufficient quality that it will matter to others? That is self-discipline. And that is a core-value.

 

Integrity. Integrity is about structure. Buildings with sound structural integrity stand, buildings with poor structural integrity fall. With self-discipline, you are building a self. With honesty, you are getting information about this self-person. Do you have integrity? It ain’t about you – not really. In this journey others will rely on you. They will lean on your strength. They will look to you in times of hardship, when questions need to be answered. Or they won’t. Integrity means you have the soundness of structure and character that when your strength is needed it is there. You do not abandon. You do not crumble. Your very presence is a strength. And in turn, the integrity of the self-aware people about you strengthens you. Integrity does not mean you are not without weakness, nor does it mean you are without flaw or that you never falter. It does mean you have a foundation and a structure and these combinations give you a strength worthy of lending to others.

 

Trustworthiness. For most teens, trustworthiness is a reference to your ability to keep or hold secrets. It is creating the sense in others that you can be trusted. If I tell you something, or if you just happen to know something about me, can you be relied on to keep my privacy? A question that is hard to answer, can you be trustworthy to some people and betray others? Is trustworthy territorial? Does it know allegiance? I am trustworthy to my good friends, but I talk about my not-friends without remorse. Is that still being trustworthy? Here is the chiasmus, when is the worth bigger than the trust? When is it time to break trust, and reveal a secret too big to keep. I hope you never have to make that kind of decision. But at the heart of the core value is to value the person greater than the trust. If you are worthy to be trusted, can you be trusted to value another’s full worth?

 

Responsibility. To be responsible is to be accountable for something, or to get blamed if something goes wrong. I often say I want to “fix the problem, not fix the blame.” Am I releasing people from their sense of responsibility? I saved responsibility until the end, I have a core-value challenge. A core-value homework. Have you ever thought to be responsible for more than you were supposed to? Most of us do, and are sometimes corrected for it. But I have seen amazing things from students. Students who are the grown-ups of their homes. Students who raise their siblings. I once taught a seventh grader who dressed and fed four younger brothers and sisters and got them to school. School was their safe place. I once taught a ninth grader who worked full time at night on a loading dock to make money for the family to pay bills. I once taught a fifth grader who carried all the family money hidden in his backpack as the only one the family considered trustworthy. In what ways are you asked to be responsible for stuff you’re not supposed to have to be responsible for?

 

My assignment for you, my last question out of this set of questions is to ask about these core values. What are they to you? What value do they have to you? I am going to ask you.

Best,

Jamie Napier

Learn more about our middle school program!