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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 25 June 2014

Created: 25 June 2014

Last Updated: 25 June 2014

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At the final Scarsdale Board of Education meeting for the 2013-14 school year, there were many tributes to retiring Superintendent Dr. Michael McGill. Here are a few of the comments: Art Rublin and Diane Greenwald, speaking for the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools lauded Dr. McGill and announced an annual book award to be given in his name. Here are their remarks:

(Art Rublin) Ms. Seiden, you delivered a lot of thanks and congratulations in your opening remarks. I'd like to offer a tribute to Dr. McGill, but before I do I'd like to thank you and congratulate you on your extraordinary, extraordinary leadership this year.

I've been pleased to hear many wonderful tributes to Dr. McGill about what he has accomplished in Scarsdale. I want to focus tonight on what Dr. McGill will continue to accomplish in Scarsdale. Now, Dr. McGill, you might say, Well, I know the community is demanding, but how can they expect me to get things done in Scarsdale after I leave the Superintendent's seat? Well, we in the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools, as well as CSS supporters and other members of the community are eager to carry forward your vision for Scarsdale schools in the years to come.

I'll remind everyone that as Dr. McGill prepared to depart his post, he wrote an important article in the Scarsdale Inquirer in which he laid out six reasons why, "at a time when some voices are demanding that public schools do more with less, a more progressive spirit is important today." Dr. McGill suggested that this more progressive spirit is important in Scarsdale not only today but over the next decade.

Dr. McGill, you'll recall that you gave Scarsdale six reasons for a more progressive spirit for Scarsdale schools into the future:

First, you noted that Scarsdale students continue to compete for college admission with others from the strongest independent and public schools in the world, and that those other schools are not standing still. You urge Scarsdale to continue to develop students who are intellectually and personally distinctive.

Second, you suggested that we need to expand beyond a strong traditional education in Scarsdale – that other nations are reinventing their schools, emphasizing critical thinking and innovation over test results, and we need to do the same.

Third, you said a more progressive spirit is important in Scarsdale because rising demands such as invasive new education regulations drain time and other resources from Scarsdale's primary mission of educating young people.

Fourth, you note that in a world of technology, Scarsdale schools must adapt to remain relevant – for example, integrating innovations such as makers' spaces.

Fifth, you noted that Scarsdale is attempting to promote more collaboration and synergy among faculty, and suggested that Scarsdale should continue to sponsor strong administrative teams, teacher leadership and other support systems.

Finally, you noted that, "the impulse underlying much of today's educational discourse is the spirit of retrenchment." You observed, "ironically, absolutely the easiest course for Scarsdale would be to fall back on what it has been and to slip into sleepy complacency. That is a prescription for decline. A school is a living, breathing organism, and any organism that is not growing is dying."

Dr. McGill, you concluded, "Most who are part of this extraordinary community appreciate how unusual it is and how fortunate they are to be part of it. Privilege entails responsibility. In the words of the old saying, 'To those to whom much is given, from them much is expected.' As it has been in the past, may Scarsdale live up to that legacy in the future."

Dr. McGill, your writing that article during the summer before your last year as Superintendent, and your speaking here tonight – to inspire us for the future – speak volumes about the extraordinary leader and visionary that you are and I know will continue to be. Rest assured that I am not alone in my effort to see your wishes for Scarsdale's future be realized. We will do all we can to prevent Scarsdale from, as you say, "fall[ing] back on what it has been and [ ] slip[ping] into sleepy complacency."

Thank you for everything you have done for our community.

(Diane Greenwald) Coalition for Scarsdale Schools, (CSS) is delighted to sponsor an annual award for a deserving senior at SHS in honor of the 16 years of exceptional service given to Scarsdale by Dr. McGill.

The Michael V. McGill Book Award, will be given to a graduating Scarsdale High School senior who has demonstrated great promise applying the values of Non Sibi, making a contribution as a global citizen.

The student should be honored who has demonstrated interest in address complex global issues and developed a sense of their global citizenry in the classroom and/or the community.

We would like to ask that Dr. McGill, you make yourself available annually to recommend a book selection for the student honoree.

Susie Rush, Scarsdale League of Women Voters:
President of the Scarsdale League of Women Voters Susie Rush presented the following on behalf of the league:

Anyone who has gotten to know Mike over the past years has dreaded this moment. Of course we knew the time would come that you'd leave; we just hoped it wouldn't come when we were still here.

It couldn't have been easy to adapt to our charming hamlet where the pressure is unrelenting and acceptance accorded sparingly. Yet you quickly learned to negotiate the waters and earned the respect and affection of the legion of those who have worked with and come to know you – administrators, teachers, parents and students. You managed to become comfortable with the most demanding of the bunch – parents -- and I guess I can say parents got comfortable with you even though many of us don't always understand what passages you're quoting, why you're quoting them or what they mean, and they're usually way too long for us to follow. (Joanne, thanks for that explanation of Begun of Bengal.) You've embraced us and maybe at times even reveled in the exchange of ideas and debate of issues, energized by the community and the possibilities that it offers to provide a first-class education to our children.

Your commitment to educational excellence is the hallmark of your tenure here. But the promise of an exemplary public education in the liberal arts tradition is not limited to every child in Scarsdale; you aspire to realize that promise for every child in America.

You have been the passionate voice within our community, throughout the State, across the country and outside the U.S., urging us to focus on developing critical and creative thinking skills, reasoning and problem-solving skills, independent and collaborative learning, always striving to develop a curriculum that meets the highest standards not just nationally, but internationally.

You have been the rational voice, engaging in the Sisyphean task of questioning the wisdom of imposing a business model on efforts to reform education, including standardized testing, using APPR to evaluate teachers, and the adoption of common core earning standards, wrought by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, all to prompt us to examine whether any of these strategies will actually improve learning or teaching. Yet in addition to asking legislators, educators and other stakeholders to critically consider this ill-advised approach to reform, you offered an alternative vision, a Declaration of Intellectual Independence.

You have been the indefatigable voice, daring us to explore and embrace new ideas -- sometimes taking the heat as you did in encouraging us to take the leap from AP to AT, establishing the Center for Innovation and the Global Learning Alliance – and nudging us into imagining what an education in the 21st century in our global community will look like, and leading us there.

And you have been the empathetic voice, underlining the importance of fostering connections between students and adults and among students, and building community.

What underlies everything you do, and which is perhaps most inspiring, is your unwavering recognition of context. Whatever the issue, you are careful to acknowledge the competing interests and the economic realities, the complexities and the nuances. More importantly though, you always remind us that we are a part of history, that we are a part of something larger than any individual and that we are a part of something enduring. You have emboldened us to believe that we are a beacon for others to follow, that what we do here will have an impact in the nation and in the world, and that we must accept that responsibility and discharge it as we have done so in the past. For we are in it for the long-term. As you have said, "we are all custodians of the future."

Mike, you are in a class without peer. We will likely not see someone quite like you again. Thank you for being our Bobby Moch to exhort us to hurl our boat through often treacherous waters across an ever-moving line that could never be a finish line. As you embark on the next leg of your life's journey, we wish you our very best; may you find another boat to steer in search of that magical moment of perfection so few have been able to experience but which you've allowed us to do with you.

Thank you.