Guiding Our Boys to Learn, Lead and Leave a Legacy

Michael Fellin, Headmaster of Crescent School
I have spoken frequently over the past year about our Portrait of a Crescent Graduate. The Portrait describes the knowledge, skills and character strengths our boys require to be successful men in the world. It answers three questions: who am I, how do I lead, and what is my legacy? It distills the answers to those questions into six essential qualities. In its simplest form, it can be expressed this way: we want our graduates to have received a strong foundation to learn, lead, and leave a legacy.
A specific area of interest for me in our Portrait of a Crescent Graduate is student leadership – the belief that all boys have the capacity to lead, not simply those who hold elected positions. Canadian social visionary Jean Vanier argues that leaders lead at the point of their gifts. This mindset is consistent with what I have observed across our alumni network. Rarely are any of these men leading in elected positions of authority; instead they are leading through their unique giftedness. And so too, it is critical that Crescent boys explore and locate their unique passion and promise as part of their Crescent education.

Like most people, my own leadership style is rooted in my personal experience as a youth. Throughout my childhood, teenage and young adult years, I was fortunate to be surrounded by people who called forth my vocation to serve – teachers, coaches, mentors, and bosses who saw in me something that I may not have seen in myself. In many instances, these experiences were grounded in service toward other people, especially those less fortunate.

Two particular experiences hold a deep significance for my life today. First, in the summer of Grade 10, I participated in a youth street patrol program which had us prepare and share food and clothing packages with homeless people in downtown Toronto. I recall vividly how many of my own biases and stereotypes broke down when I encountered people living on the street. In some cases, they were people who grew up just like me but met with misfortune or life crisis.

Second, as a young adult and teacher, I participated in a Teachers Crossing Borders trip to Jamaica. My wife Heather and I volunteered at an orphanage, taught at a school located in a city landfill, visited children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and cared for the elderly at a seniors’ home. I recall deeply how alive I felt as I assisted those with far greater need than myself.

In retrospect, both of these encounters taught me that to lead is an immense privilege because it involves bringing people together often who are worlds apart – physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

When I think about our boys, I think of them as having the capacity to leave their school and their world better than they found it. I do not think of leadership as for the select few but for all boys who have promise to become Men of Character.

Veritate Stamus et Crescimus.

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