{"id":1419,"date":"2020-07-18T07:44:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T12:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=1419"},"modified":"2023-05-14T19:08:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T00:08:27","slug":"class-of-2020-the-next-greatest-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/07\/18\/class-of-2020-the-next-greatest-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 2020: The Next Greatest Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The class of 2020 has felt the full force of the disruption caused by the Coronavirus. Graduation ceremonies have been cancelled, postponed or held virtually online. Nothing about the spring of senior year went according to plan for the class of 2020. It has been described as catastrophic and traumatic by students, parents and teachers. In the face of such obstacles, how do we maintain a confident faith<\/a>? Part of gaining the courage to lead<\/a>, we must come to grips with our current circumstances. I myself find great meaning in the quote by Marcus Aurelius<\/a>, “What stands in the way becomes the way.” What if the Covid-19 pandemic is exactly what we need to cultivate the next greatest generation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Clapham School, where I serve as an administrator, we were able to hold a small, in-person ceremony for our graduates. As I composed my commencement address, I was struck by parallels with the class of 1919, which had graduation ceremonies cancelled or postponed in various locations due to the Spanish Influenza pandemic. In this message, I try to bring perspective to graduates this summer, that the challenges we face due to Covid-19 may go a long way toward shaping the outlook of this next generation, if one embraces the opportunity a catastrophe provides. In many ways, this speech is a sequel to my article on the Black Death in the 14th century<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here I’ve shared my commencement address in the hope that perhaps this message will be meaningful to you as a teacher and leader in your school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commencement Address \u2013 Class of 2020<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Good evening, class of 2020. I am so grateful that we can meet this evening with a small gathering of parents, siblings, teachers, relatives and friends. Little about the past several months has gone according to plan, so it is that much more satisfying to have planned this event, bringing a little order in the midst of chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cGreatest Generation\u201d is a term used to describe the Americans who experienced both the Great Depression and World War 2. What characterizes these Americans is that they lived through some of the greatest hardships of the depression and exhibited the will to win on the battlefields of Africa, Europe and Asia. Of the 16 million who served in WW2, only about half a million remain today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we look back on the Greatest Generation, we can observe that such a generation is forged by the harshest of trials. You can\u2019t engineer such a generation. There\u2019s no recipe or lab manual. There were attempts to create great generations. Warren G. Harding called for a return to normalcy in 1920, a phrase that anticipated \u201cMake America Great Again.\u201d What is normalcy? And can normalcy be created through public policy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post-war 1950s represented another attempt at social fabrication of a great generation. The idea was social conformity. The picture of suburban docility was promoted on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post with weekly prints of Norman Rockwell paintings. What, though, are we striving for when we call for conformity? Can social pressure create a great generation? This is a highly relevant consideration in light of the dominant position social media has taken since the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My thesis, and the point that I want to make for our graduating seniors, is that great generations are forged through unexpected hardship, and cannot be made by the will of cultural engineers. And what has 2020 been, but a year of hardship after hardship. This pandemic gives me pause to ask whether we are experiencing the kinds of conditions that will contribute to the making of a new great generation. To assess this hunch of mine, I want to take us back to 1918 and 1919.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Great War, or WW1, was drawing to a close after years of stagnation. The US was ultimately drawn into the conflict as the decisive force, bringing victory to the allied forces against the central powers. One of the unexpected consequences of American soldiers serving overseas was that they brought back the Spanish Influenza, which hit pandemic levels in the fall of 1918. Schools closed in September and October of 1918. Homecoming events, a fairly new annual celebration in the early 1900s, were cancelled that fall. We can empathize with some of the experiences from that pandemic that swept the nation. For instance, students in Los Angeles remained at home and were sent assignments by teachers through mail-in correspondence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were subsequent spikes of the Spanish Influenza in January of 1919 and then again in the April-May timeframe later that year. This meant that graduations were cancelled or delayed in various hotspots throughout America. The class of 2020 seems to have similarities with the class of 1919. There were no vaccines or treatments available, so the only protocols to follow were isolation, quarantine, washing hands, disinfecting surfaces, and canceling or limiting public gatherings. If nothing else, it\u2019s good to know we are not alone. Mark Twain is reputed to have said that \u201chistory doesn\u2019t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.\u201d Well, sometimes it sure seems like it does repeat itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For reasons we don\u2019t particularly know, the Spanish Influenza just went away. It took researchers until 2008 to fully understand the genetic makeup of the H1N1 virus, colloquially termed the Spanish Flu. Side note: the Spanish Flu did not originate in Spain. Spain became associated with this virus simply because they remained neutral in WW1, and were therefore able to provide unbiased reporting about this new virus during the war, a service which ultimately associated their national identity with a virus. The Spanish, by the way, referred to the virus as the French Flu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parallels between the Spanish Flu and the Coronavirus interest me for this simple reason. The Spanish Flu is something we can regard as the first in a series of hardships that impacted the generation who would subsequently experience both the Great Depression and WW2. Yet, few ever associate that pandemic with the ensuing events. But could it be that the Influenza pandemic served as an initial crisis in a string of events creating the greatest generation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so I ask you now, our graduates, a compelling question. Will our pandemic serve as an initial crisis that will forge the next greatest generation? I don\u2019t know what the future will hold. I can\u2019t promise you that depressions and world wars will further galvanize your generation. But perhaps if the mantle is born with only this one catastrophic event, the work of making a next great generation is accomplished here and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temptation will exist to dive deeply into social distractions. We could be on the verge of the next roaring 20s. But I trust that the books that you\u2019ve read here at Clapham, the discussions about what it takes to live life with meaning and purpose, will have prepared you to fully embrace the opportunity now made available to you in our current traumatic experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me be clear about my charge to you. I do not spell these things out to you to place a burden of expectations on you. It matters not whether you become labelled a great generation. Instead, what does matter is to notice that your class has had a bit of rubbish luck when it comes to your graduation. And I say, good for you! That\u2019s now part of your story. That\u2019s something that becomes part of your perspective on life. That\u2019s something that marks your graduation as something unique and special. And if you can own that and truly embrace it, you will find joy and blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plan for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.<\/p>Jeremiah 29:11<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The class of 2020 has felt the full force of the disruption caused by the Coronavirus. Graduation ceremonies have been cancelled, postponed or held virtually online. Nothing about the spring of senior year went according to plan for the class of 2020. It has been described as catastrophic and traumatic by students, parents and teachers. 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Graduation ceremonies have been cancelled, postponed or held virtually online. Nothing about the spring of senior year went according to plan for the class of 2020. It has been described as catastrophic and traumatic by students, parents and teachers.…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7K1D-mT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1124,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/04\/18\/the-importance-of-courage-and-curiosity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":0},"title":"The Importance of Courage and Curiosity for School Leaders Today","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"April 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you were to make a short list of some of the most important traits for school leaders, what would you include? You might start with confidence. Confidence affords leaders the ability to stay calm under pressure and remain focused on a course of action when the going gets tough.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Educational Leadership"","block_context":{"text":"Educational Leadership","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/educational-leadership\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/leadership-meeting.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/leadership-meeting.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/leadership-meeting.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/leadership-meeting.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/leadership-meeting.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1444,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/07\/31\/back-to-school-3-principles-for-returning-to-school-amidst-the-pandemic\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":1},"title":"Back to School: 3 Principles for Returning to School Amidst the Pandemic","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"July 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Our world has been turned upside down in the last five months, or so it feels, and a course-correct doesn\u2019t seem likely soon. While educational leaders across the country have sought to stay positive and assure families of an in-person return to school in August, some are having to pivot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Educational Leadership"","block_context":{"text":"Educational Leadership","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/educational-leadership\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/School.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/School.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/School.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":180,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2018\/12\/23\/rules-for-schools-an-interaction-with-jordan-petersons-12-rules-for-life-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":2},"title":"Rules for Schools?: An Interaction with Jordan Peterson\u2019s 12 Rules for Life (Part 3)","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"December 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been interacting with Jordan Peterson's 12\u00a0Rules\u00a0for\u00a0Life over the past few weeks. This is now the third and final installment. Part 1 looked at habit formation and deliberate practice, while part 2 considered several of Peterson's rules in conjunction with the idea of discipline. At the heart of Peterson\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/old-square-temple-ruins.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/old-square-temple-ruins.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/old-square-temple-ruins.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/old-square-temple-ruins.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/old-square-temple-ruins.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1439,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/07\/25\/20-quotable-quotes-from-the-first-half-of-2020-educational-renaissance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":3},"title":"20 Quotable Quotes from the First Half of 2020 Educational Renaissance","author":"Jason Barney","date":"July 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"At the end of 2019 we shared a series of memorable maxims from that year's blog articles. As we transition toward the next half of 2020, we thought we'd do something similar and share 20 Quotable Quotes from Educational Renaissance articles January through June. These are longer block quotes that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Updates","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Plato and Aristotle and Socrates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Canva-Nativity-Painting-of-People-Inside-a-Dome-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Canva-Nativity-Painting-of-People-Inside-a-Dome-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Canva-Nativity-Painting-of-People-Inside-a-Dome-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Canva-Nativity-Painting-of-People-Inside-a-Dome-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Canva-Nativity-Painting-of-People-Inside-a-Dome-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C764&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3753,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/05\/06\/reading-for-meaning-tapping-into-the-collective-unconsciousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":4},"title":"Reading for Meaning: Tapping into the Collective Unconsciousness","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"May 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The story of Saint George and the Dragon is a classic tale of courage and faith. It tells the story of a brave knight, George, who saves a princess from being sacrificed to a dragon that has been terrorizing a small town. After slaying the dragon, George is celebrated as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern Research"","block_context":{"text":"Modern Research","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/modern-research\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/427px-Saint_George_and_the_Dragon_Rogier.jpg?fit=427%2C599&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1745,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/12\/12\/enjoying-the-bible-as-literature-5-strategies-for-engaging-students-in-reading-the-canon\/","url_meta":{"origin":1419,"position":5},"title":"Enjoying the Bible as Literature: 5 Strategies for Engaging Students in Reading the Canon","author":"Jason Barney","date":"December 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Guest article by Heidi Dean of Christian Schools International (See Jason's article on CSI \"7 Steps to Narrating the Bible\"!) In biblical studies we seek to cultivate the habits of reverence, humility, submission to the text, and other qualities of faithful scholarship. But I propose another goal should rise to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biblical worldview"","block_context":{"text":"Biblical worldview","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/biblical-worldview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-2020-12-12-075014.png?fit=1141%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-2020-12-12-075014.png?fit=1141%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-2020-12-12-075014.png?fit=1141%2C637&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-2020-12-12-075014.png?fit=1141%2C637&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot-2020-12-12-075014.png?fit=1141%2C637&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1435,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions\/1435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}