SJA每周新闻——校长演讲：坚定寻快乐的决心

Message From the Headmaster

A Resolution to Find Joy 坚定寻找快乐的决心

On Thursday morning, I was faced with a rather subdued crowd in Fuller Hall. The weather had been messy again, and what had promised to be a snow day had devolved into merely another late start. Combined with the cold grayness outside, the winter sniffles had many people feeling down, and others were struggling with family illness or personal problems. To be honest, I could relate to all of that. In addressing those gathered in Fuller, I harkened back to my first Chapel Talk of the school year. In that talk, I spoke about becoming better people—people of greater education, enlightenment, and good character—and I shared my personal resolutions for the new school year, one of which was to find joy each day. Standing on stage before about 800 less-than-joyful people, I had a heavy lift if I was to raise up joy in the moment.

星期四早上，我在Fuller大厅里面对着一个相当压抑的人群。外面的天气再一次变得恶劣了，本来以为是下雪的日子，现在看来只不过是又一个迟来的雪季。再加上外面寒冷灰蒙的天色，让很多人都感到沮丧，还有一些人正与疾病或个人问题作斗争。老实说，我觉得这些都是令人沮丧的事。在向聚集在Fuller大厅的人们演讲时，我仿佛回到了我第一次在礼堂演讲的那一年。在那次演讲中，我谈到了如何成为更好的人--接受高等教育、启蒙和良好品格的人，我与他们分享了我个人在新学年下定的决心，其中一个就是每天都能找到快乐。站在舞台上，面对八百个不快乐的人，如果要让我在此刻烘托出欢乐的氛围，那真的是沉重的负担。

However, I believe joy (like love) is a decision, so I started listing things that had brought me joy over the past week:

然而，我认为快乐（如同爱一样）就是一种决心，所以我开始列举我过去一周遇到的让我开心的事：

1, On Monday night, the Hilltones performed the National Anthem a cappella to start our girls’ basketball game against Essex, and once again the beauty of their voices and harmonies moved me. While I don’t keep records of such things, I believe this group of select singers is one of the most talented I have heard in over 34 years here. Their live performances in Chapel, at First Night, in concerts, in competitions, and just at basketball games have been consistently excellent. I love live music—it brings me joy, as do all live performances—and the memory of the Hilltones’ beautiful rendition lifted my spirits just by thinking of it. It helped that our girls continued their season’s excellence by handily beating Essex, too.

周一晚上，Hilltones阿卡贝拉人声合唱团演唱了国歌，为学院与Essex女子篮球比赛做开场准备，而我再一次被他们美妙的嗓音和和声打动了。虽然我对这些事情不甚留意，但是在我看来这些精心挑选出来的歌手是我34年里听过的唱歌最有天赋的。他们在礼堂、First Night、音乐会、竞赛以及篮球比赛的现场表演都一样的出色。我喜欢现场音乐，就像所有现场表演一样，因为它能带给我快乐，而且一回想起Hilltones这首优美的歌曲就能让我精神振奋，我们的女子篮球队员在赛场上也轻而易举地击败了Essex，从而延续了她们本赛季的不俗表现。

2. I was also lifted up by remembering those who had made musical opportunities available to our students. Jeff and Melissa Burroughs spent Wednesday night taking a bus full of students to a free performance of the Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, made available through Kingdom County Productions. Likewise, a whole host of people from Beth Choiniere to Mike Willey to Rosie Prevost to Alan Rowe made it possible for our Hilltones to compete as part of Sing That Thing in Boston. Such extraordinary efforts to provide extras to our students filled me with joy at being part of such an educational community.

我还记得那些为我们的学生创造音乐条件的人，这也让我精神振奋。Jeff和Melissa Burroughs周三晚上乘坐一辆满载学生的公交车去参加由Kingdom郡举办的上海歌剧交响乐团免费表演。同样，从Beth Choiniere到Mike Willey到Rosie Prevost再到Alan Rowe，他们组成的Hilltones乐团也到波士顿参加了Sing That Thing歌唱比赛。学院能够如此费心为学生提供这些独特的机会，我感到非常欣慰，也很高兴能成为这个教育团体的一员。

3. On Wednesday, Seven Days reporter Kyme Sari published her story about Ayman Alsalloumi and Majd Al Abas, whose families escaped from Syria as refugees. I found great joy reading about the courage these two young men have showed and the encouragement they have received; the brotherhood they share with each other, their friends in The Maple Center dorm, and their mentor Florian Rexhepi; and their sense of belonging here (as Ayman says, “This is my home. This is my Syria.”).

周三，Seven Days栏目记者Kyme Sari报道了逃离叙利亚的难民Ayman Alsalloumi和Majd Al Abas的故事。当我看了他们的故事之后，这两个年轻人表现出的勇气、他们受到的鼓励、他们之间的兄弟情谊、他们在Maple Center宿舍的朋友、他们的导师Florian Rexhepi，以及他们对这里的归属感，都让我为之震撼。

4. On Thursday morning, on Valentine’s Day, I was greeted by an email blast from our alumni and marketing departments that featured dozens of students who were conscripted into cameo appearances in a Valentine’s Day message to the whole Academy community. Not only were these students willing participants, but they showed how much they enjoyed their friends and how much joy they found in being here—even on a cold day. Fittingly, it ended with senior Zekiah Lewis and her trademark good energy.

周四情人节上午，我收到了来自校友和市场部的一封电子邮件，内容是几十名学生参加情人节客串活动，这是发给整个学院社区的情人节简讯。这些学生不仅愿意参加这项活动，而且他们还展示了他们对朋友的喜爱程度，以及在如此寒冷的日子也能在这里感受到这么多的快乐。

I closed my remarks by reminding those in Fuller that joy was a choice and encouraging them to remain awake and aware of the opportunities for joy, appreciative of those who provide them, and willing to let it lift them above the coldness and grayness, above the struggles and sickness, and above the haters and mockers.

我结束了我的演讲，提醒Fuller大厅的同学们，快乐是一种选择，鼓励他们保持清醒，善于寻找快乐，感激那些提供欢乐的人，并愿意带领他们摆脱寒冷和灰暗，努力战胜疾病，战胜仇恨者和嘲笑者。

Then something spontaneous and wonderful happened. In the middle of the announcements that followed my message, Student Government President Grace Phelps read the Joke of the Week from Dennis Camelio, who leads our Bowling Club. The joke went like this: “How many Vermonters does it take to screw in a light bulb? Three. One to screw it in, and the other two to complain about how much better the old one was.” Grace had not even gotten the punch line out when she dissolved in giggles. It was infectious, the whole roomed erupted in laughter, and it wouldn’t stop! I didn’t help much when, after Grace had composed herself to continue the announcements, I was still laughing silently behind her and she turned to see me shaking, trying to hold myself together. The room erupted in another round of laughter, even louder this time. We made it through the rest of Chapel somehow, but the joy of laughing together for almost no reason was truly uplifting—dissipating the earlier grumpiness.

之后突然发生了一些奇妙的事情。在我致辞后的公告期间，学生会主席Grace Phelps读了一则学院保龄球俱乐部负责人Dennis Camelio的本周笑话。笑话是这样的：“拧一个灯泡需要几个佛蒙特人？三个。一个是拧进去的，另外两个则是抱怨旧的灯泡好多了。”Grace还没把笑话讲完就笑得不能自已了。这则笑话确实很有感染力，整个大厅瞬间爆发出笑声，而且还不会停止！当Grace镇静下来继续发言后，我还是在她身后默默地笑着，她转过身来看到我身体抖动并试图把自己抱在一起时，大厅里又爆发出一阵笑声，并且这次的笑声更大了。我们不知怎么完成了礼堂演讲的剩余部分，但大家一起笑开怀的喜悦之情无疑是真正令人振奋的，它也驱散了大家一开始的怨气。

This upbeat mood carried into Friday as Liam Tobin and Joe Brody introduced the Harvest of the Month (a program to support and bring awareness to the local food economy) by putting cabbage leaves on their heads (becoming literally heads of cabbage). Also on Friday, Chef Gerry Prevost gave away three cakes (red cabbage cakes made by his culinary students in honor of the harvest of the month and topped with truffles made by Lia Rotti in her introduction to culinary arts class) in his monthly Random Act of Kindness. Finally, Friday’s Chapel ended with a solo musical performance by Alan Ulrich-Sass during which he laid down some background acoustic tracks live on stage and then added a live electric guitar performance. As he ended, the whole crowd rose in an enthusiastic standing ovation led by (of course) Chef Prevost.

这一欢乐情绪一直持续到周五，Liam Tobin和Joe Brody通过将卷心菜叶子放在头上（实际上是卷心菜的头）的方式向大家介绍了Harvest of the Month项目（一个支撑和提高当地粮食经济意识的计划）。同样在星期五，主厨Gerry Prevost在每月一次的善举活动中赠送了三个蛋糕（由烹饪班级学生为庆祝这个月的收获而制作的红色卷心菜蛋糕，以及Lia Rotti在烹饪艺术导论课上制作的松露蛋糕）。最后，星期五的礼堂日以Alan Ulrich-Sass的独奏音乐表演结束，他在舞台上播放背景音轨，然后加入了电吉他的现场表演。当他结束时，主厨Prevost带领所有人起立热烈鼓掌。

C. S. Lewis writes of being “surprised by joy”, and I believe that is what happened last week. Having decided to be joyful, to allow ourselves to have fun and appreciate the uplifting people around us, we moved out of the doldrums of dreariness and that much closer to a much-needed Winter Break. As this week ends with Winter Carnival, we will have several more opportunities for joy ahead. If we so choose, we can resolve to be joyful, and maybe even get surprised by joy along the way.

C.S.Lewis写的是“惊喜源于快乐”，我相信上周发生的事情完全诠释了这句话。我们下定决心要感受快乐，让自己享受乐趣，欣赏身边那些令人震撼的人，这样我们就能摆脱沉闷乏味的生活。随着本周冬季嘉年华的结束，我们将有更多感受快乐的机会。如果我们这样选择的话，我们就可以下定决心要寻找快乐，甚至可能一直能在快乐中发现惊喜。

In The NEWS

Girls' Indoor Track Team Wins Fifth Consecutive Title女子室内田径队连续第五次夺冠

The Rotti sisters, Jen and Lia, combined for 58 points as the St. Johnsbury Academy girls claimed their fifth straight Division I indoor track and field championship Saturday at the University of Vermont.

周六，在佛蒙特大学举行的圣约翰斯伯里女子学院室内田径一等奖决赛中，罗蒂姐妹珍和莉娅共得58分。

Mark Your Calenders

Thursday, February 21 through Friday, February 22

冬季狂欢节

Saturday, February 23 through Tuesday, March 5

冬假

Thursday, March 7, 7:00 p.m.

格蕾丝·斯图尔特·奥克特图书馆

Colwell系列演讲嘉宾为Jack Loveridge博士，讲述绿色革命和美国在非殖民化时期参与印度慈善事业(1919-1966)

Thursday, March 14, 3:30-6:30 p.m.

格蕾丝·斯图尔特·奥克特图书馆

人类的图书馆

Thursday, March 21, 3:30 p.m.

格蕾丝·斯图尔特·奥克特图书馆

2006年，阿德里安娜·拉菲尔，谈论她的诗集，它是干什么用的?

Monday, March 25 through Wednesday, March 27, 8:00 a.m.

SBAC测试适用于所有佛蒙特州居民的9年级学生。礼拜将于上午9点20分开始。

Monday, April 1 through Tuesday, April 2, 8:00 a.m.

SBAC测试适用于所有佛蒙特州居民的11年级学生。礼拜将于上午9点20分开始。

Sense Of the Week

We have many photos of the girls' indoor track team winning their fifth consecutive Division I State Championship

照片是女子室内田径队赢得了他们连续第5个一级联赛冠军

The boys came in second, losing by one point!

男孩子们得了第二名，差一分!

Students were congratulated by Governor Scott during Vermont Entrepreneurship Week.
Saleena Porter, Jaime Lario Aguado, Ryan Egan, Pablo Gonzalez Rotger, and Jaime Lario Aguado received an Honorable Mention in the Video PSA. Andrew Cowan also received Honorable Mention in the Bumper Sticker Contest.佛蒙特州创业周期间，斯科特州长向学生们表示祝贺。

Saleena Porter, Jaime Lario Aguado, Ryan Egan, Pablo Gonzalez Rotger和Jaime Lario Aguado在视频PSA中获得了荣誉提名。安德鲁·考恩也在汽车保险杠贴纸大赛中获得了荣誉奖。

The alumni and marketing departments put together a Valentine's Day thank you video.

校友和市场部一起制作了一个情人节感谢视频

As an addendum to our photos of Res Fest

作为我们Res Fest的照片的附录