blessing the boats at St. MarysFor our second post in the “Week of Lucille Clifton” — here is Kathleen Glaser’s reflections on Lucille Clifton’s “blessing the boats” from Teaching with Heart.

 

 

 

 

blessing the boats

(at St. Mary’s)

may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it  will
love your back        may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that

—Lucille Clifton

TWH JacketI have heard this poem read at graduations and memorials‒significant moments of transition and transformation. It is also imprinted on the wall leading to the dining hall at St. Mary’s College of Maryland‒a school that I know well because my husband taught there, as did Lucille Clifton.

Often, when I recite these lines aloud, “may the tide . . . carry you out beyond the face of fear,” I think about my own fear of using my voice with agency. In a profession caught in a storm of external solutions, I have learned that I can do my best and most meaningful work when my colleagues and I seek together new ways to “sail through this to that,” and find true north for ourselves and our students.

After thirty years in education, I undertook my most ambitious challenge and cofounded the Chesapeake Public Charter School—which is the first charter school in our region. During the four-year planning process, which was filled with uncertainties and roadblocks, a growing circle of parents and teachers shared leadership. As the initiator of this venture that often felt like sailing against the “tide,” I frequently felt the immensity of the task.

By carefully listening to each other, we formed a community of trusting relationships that could carry us “beyond the face of fear” as we confronted rejection, an appeals process, and numerous logistical and financial obstacles. Together we created a safe space for what has become a thriving community of learners and leaders.

—Kathleen Glaser
Co-founder Chesapeake Public Charter School St. Mary’s City, Maryland