The last week in March holds a somber significance for our Nashville community. We all changed on March 27, 2023, when our city was added to the list of hundreds of communities that have experienced the horrors of a school shooting. The memory of tragedy at The Covenant School still feels palpable. Our collective grief and sorrow are as present and as powerful.

It is important for our girls to know that life doesn't always have to be about moving from one task to another or filling empty space with devices and distractions. There is power in being comfortable in our own company. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is simply sit with our thoughts. We are giving our minds a rest and letting our creativity and emotions breathe.

No other profession is filled with more hope for the future than teaching. Through the years, we may see students flounder at certain times, and then, before our eyes, we see them grow and change and gain confidence and ultimately soar. When a 5th grade teacher sees a former student walk down Souby Lawn at graduation, she often marvels and delights at the kind, caring, courageous young woman she has become. We have faith in our students’ expanded capacities and wisdom, or we would not spend time doing what we do. We also have the privilege and satisfaction of witnessing their growth during their time at Harpeth Hall.

If you are in the field of education and preoccupied with teaching students to think for themselves — or in any profession with a healthy skepticism surrounding the automation of your industry due to artificial intelligence — you probably have been swamped with discussions and articles about “intelligent” computer systems. The current conversation seems to contain two schools of thought. One view is that ChatGPT or any form of generative artificial intelligence will cause the end of critical thinking, or, let’s face it, the end of civilization as we know it. The other view, equally distorted, is that AI, anthropomorphized by Hollywood and sci-fi movies, will solve our problems and make life and work much more efficient.