Headmaster's Weekly Newsletter – Week 13

Dear KES Family:

Our Head Chapel Prefect this year is Stanislav Matkovskyi ‘22. A full IB scholar (11 current subjects plus calculus which he completed in August!), this young Ukrainian is also a dedicated cross-country runner and swimmer. At home his primary sport is boxing. He has a true love of learning and of reading. During the worldwide lockdown in the spring of 2020, Stanislav was at home in Odessa. Despite the time difference, he would Zoom in each afternoon to attend our morning chapel service on campus. In all my time at KES he is the only student I have known to attend chapel every day. Junior, Senior…it does not matter. He is always there.

Because of Stanislav, our long-silent chapel bell is now rung with enthusiasm each morning at 8:00am. He has resurrected a tradition which alumni from decades past would appreciate. As far as bells go, our chapel bell is a good one. Unlike the deep ding-dong of a large church bell, its double tone ding-ding hits tenor notes. Its ring is clear and surprisingly loud.

Chapel and church bells go way back. They signify more than a call to congregate. They are also a call to celebrate. Bells are rung to grant wishes and to ward off evil spirits. Wedding bells are undoubtedly happiness bells, granting prosperity and health, signifying good news. Over time, door knockers may have been replaced by bells because they are more easily heard by the occupants of the dwelling, but the happy belief that bells prevent bad spirits from entering your home made them popular.

Hikers in the Canadian Rockies wear “bear bells” to warn and ward off grizzlies. Shepherds around the world have bells on their livestock for easy identification, protection, and to help find them when they stray from the herd. I love choir bells in church, however, the most reassuring and beautiful chorus of notes I have ever heard have been made by herds of Maasai cattle in East Africa.

Many know the phrase ‘for whom the bell tolls’. Its origins are found in John Donne’s meditation on the inter-connectedness of humanity, that none of us is an island, that we are all “a piece of the continent, a part of the main”.  The pandemic has certainly proven this to be true. From the very first day we have all been in this together.

Whether it is our specific day to attend chapel or not, when Stanislav rings the bell, he rings it for all of us. It is a celebration. We are here. We are “part of the main”. We are connected and therefore strong. If the bell’s ringing happens to ward off an evil spirit or two, so much the better.

Sincerely,

Joe Seagram