Reunion 2007 - Classes 1983, 84 and 85

Reunion 2007 - Class of 1971 and 1972

Letter from Andrew Wilson December 19, 2007 Dear Friends, It is Christmas vacation here at Grier. The girls have all gone home for the holiday. We who remain working are enjoying some more relaxed time with the thermostat turned down just a bit. My office, usually quite warm, is chilly today. It makes me try to think back to the first winters of Grier’s history when the kids and teachers had to get by with wood stoves and fireplaces. People must have been much more accustomed to dressing for the cold and living in cool places. I hear some clunking now so I know the heat is coming up through the pipes once again to warm us up for the day. This morning I spent an hour at the local public school, showing slides to a fifth grade class. As I cycled through images of Argentina, a boy raised his hand and asked, “Have you ever been to New Mexico? I hear that you see taco stores everywhere.” The second grade classes of Mr. Koller and Mrs. Elder welcomed Andrew Wilson to their school for a nice slide show on December 18, 2007. Another boy, at a slide show I gave to 10th graders yesterday in the Tyrone High School, asked, “Do they have good food down there?” “Down there?” I responded. “Down there in those places you were showing us.” (I had been showing that class photos of Saudi Arabia.) “Yes, they have good food.” Sharing my photos of international travel is something that I have been doing for years in the Tyrone public schools. My sense is that many of the kids never travel and may never even think of foreign countries unless I show them some photos. This has given me a bit of fame in a very small way in that many kids in town recognize me. Once, a few years ago, a little girl in the grocery store called out to me, “Hey, Mr. Machu Picchu!” Her mom scolded her. “Don’t call that man silly names!” As I returned to Grier this morning, I had time to think about the kids I had seen in the public school. They are all so very different from our students at Grier. Grier’s diverse student population guarantees that kids have an awareness of the greater world. Our dining room customarily serves foods that are enjoyed worldwide. It is not unusual for us to have Pork and Sauerkraut (a Central PA favorite!) served the very same day as dishes like Fettuccini Alfredo or Spring Rolls are served. Over on the salad bar, the pickled eggs might be right next to some Kim-Chi or dried squid. It is a wonderfully rich experience for all of us at Grier. I can’t help but think that spending time at Grier gives our alumnae a leg up in the arena of future employment if they find themselves competing with kids from small schools like the one in Tyrone. My daughters all attend the Tyrone schools and love them. My eldest daughter, Emily, is old enough to be at Grier but finds me very embarrassing. Staying at the public school gives her a degree of independence she could not enjoy if she were to attend Grier. Still, I have my parental moments when I wonder if we should have forced the issue a bit. This year, her 10th grade, she still has not started a foreign language. She has only about 10 minutes of homework a night on those nights when she has any at all. Her passion at the moment is her involvement in the band and the choral groups. She does not participate in sports. In the past month I have visited with three graduates who all attended Grier while I was Señor Andrés, the Spanish teacher. All three are happily married, raising lovely families and doing very well in their careers. All expressed great love of the experience they had lived here at Grier. Their fondest memories, of friends and teachers, are still very much fresh in their memories. It really was heartening for me to see our graduates doing so well, making their way through the world with grace and kind manners. I was very proud to know that the people that they are today had been formed, in part, by the life they lived here. I thought of these Grier graduates as I looked out at my daughter’s high school class yesterday. There, in the front row, was a girl with dyed pink hair and a large lip ring. In another corner, a boy slouched down holding hands with the girl next to him. In the middle of the room, a boy noisily ate potato chips throughout my entire presentation. They did not look really excited about their education. They did not seem very attached to their classmates. To arrive at school, they had passed through a metal detector and had their bags rifled through by a guard. The classroom door was locked for the duration of our class. It just was not like Grier at all. I felt enormous relief to come home to Grier. Grier girls don’t always appreciate it at the time but their days lived here provide them with a wealth of lessons learned. For me, coming to Grier has proven to be the single most momentous opportunity of my life. When I venture out, whether it be to Tyrone School or to Dhahran School in Saudi Arabia, I appreciate Grier all the more. I wish you all a very happy holiday season! Fondly, Andrew Wilson Headmaster AN ARCHIVES OF ANDREW'S LETTERS June 8, 2003 - February 12, 2004 June 4, 2004 - November 2, 2004 November 22, 2004 - March 21, 2005 April 19, 2005 - October 6, 2005 October 26, 2005 - June 30, 2006 September 1, 2006 - December 19, 2007 A spectacular June sunset!

Members of the Class of 1987 look tired as the last rehearsal exercise before graduation comes to an end.

The rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania provide a safe and healthy living environment for Grier students.