April 13, 2020 Coronavirus Update from Head of School: April 13, 2020 Dear Parents, Colleagues, Students, and Friends,
You may have seen that this weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the lift-off of Apollo 13, whose lunar mission of "successful failure" became a global touchstone for many people of my generation , as far as making the best of a dreadful situation, keeping a positive attitude, focusing what needs to get done and finding a way of somehow just getting it done. At one point the three astronauts, stranded 200,000 miles from the Earth after an explosion in the service module, sitting in the inky, black, airless void of space in a broken spacecraft, had just 15 minutes of oxygen left in the command module.
In order to have some chance of saving their own lives, they had to quickly power up the lunar module, move three men into a landing craft designed for two and shut down all operations in the command module, including their guidance computer, in order to preserve electricity for the perilous journey back to Earth. With a ration of a cup of water for each man per day for the cold and dark four day journey home, they were completely at the mercy of gravity : Sir Isaac Newton in charge, as it were.
I relate this story as a backdrop to our own current travails with social isolation. Can we honestly say we are having a rough time, dear students? We have to sit at home, do our school work, read books, maybe watch some TV, perhaps cut our own hair, eat something nice and go to bed. It is really not so bad. Having said that, it is somewhat different to our normal routine and, as I have said before, I am very proud of you all for the adaptations you have made and the efforts you have put in. We are all doing just fine. Well done.
The Apollo 13 Commander, Jim Lovell, with whom I was able to speak briefly when we lived in Houston, credits a positive attitude in all aspects of one's life, teamwork and a cool head as being at the center of why he and his two crewmates made it back to Earth. So, dear students, keep positive, work together, stay cool and….. Nepamirškite nusiplauti rankų. (Thank you, Officer Vid)
Kind regards, Dr. David Watson Head of School
COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF NAPLES Naples, FL 34109, USA Ph. (239) 597-7575 |