Southold and Greenport are adjacent towns on the North Fork of Long Island. I have been fortunate to meet the superintendent who shares responsibility for both districts. His name is David Gamberg. I have visited high school plays, seen (and consumed) the products of the school garden, and watched musical performances of his students. I live in both Southold and Brooklyn, and while both are located on the same island, they are worlds apart. The headlines in Brooklyn are about crime, politics, corruption, major real estate deals, etc. The front page of the Suffolk Times, in which David’s article appears, is about the decision by the owner of the local “department store” (actually a small, old-time hardware store whose owner is renowned for the guitars he sells and plays) is moving his store next-doors. Goofy things happen here, and no one sees them as goofy but me. Rothman’s Department Store is famous in local lore because Albert Einstein, who summered here, came in to buy sandals. In his thick German accent, he said “sun-dials” and the owner regretted that he didn’t carry sun dials. Eventually, the two became fast friends. Southold boasts a great observatory, the Custer Institute, and its website has a photograph of Einstein and David Rothman, the department store owner. No one knows if Einstein ever visited the Custer Institute. Typical North Fork.

David Gamberg writes here about the learning experiences that shape students and ultimately shape communities.

He is very much a believer in active, engaged learning. His communities are lucky to have this wise man as their educational leader (by the way, opt out numbers in the North Fork were high).

He begins:

I am convinced that the foundation of good education is about the concept of building — building a school, building community, building relationships and building a sense of self.

This belief started to form in me as a young teacher, a teacher who began his career working in a school for incarcerated students. I remember being alongside students whose life story and life trajectory left little hope for the future. I recall wondering as a young educator — what can I do to alter their story, their path in life? The idea that we can help shape or reshape what seemed to be a child’s destiny represented a challenge for me, both personally and professionally.

School “works” for many students to provide a pathway into the future, a foundation of rich experiences that inspire and form the basis of their life stories. I wondered: Why not with these students?

I realized that many other factors conspired to bring them to this point. Education and schools can never be fully responsible for the outcomes that our students achieve; yet I wondered, what could be a key ingredient to reshape their view of the world? What could be something so powerful that it could reboot the system, rewire the hardware, stimulate a new emotional connection to the world around them?

I thought that having them build something, having them make a physical change in their environment, would change them as well. This, I thought, could reawaken their spirit; they would imagine themselves rebuilding their souls while rebuilding their surroundings. Shape the world around you and you shape yourself in the process.

Tending a garden offers students a chance to shape their environment and participate in the natural transformation of seed to plant. Building a greenhouse teaches students all subject areas, including math and science. Creating a gallery or museum display involves a student in a real process of honoring history and art. Putting on a drama or musical production shapes the experience of others, as the audience becomes the beneficiaries of our students’ talents and contribution to the larger community.