Sarah and I received a mysterious email recently that included the following:

We followed the instructions and said nothing to Griffin. He and the rest of his upper school classmates dutifully arrived in the Huss Auditorium for the awards assembly, having no idea who might win an award. Griffin noticed that we were in the audience, didn’t catch on.

To our delight, and Griffin’s complete surprise, Griffin won the “Science Magazine Award” in recognition of “a passion and Love of Science as well as an Exceptional Class Citizen.” I’m especially pleased that this award focuses on his level of interest in the subject and his citizenship in the classroom, two elements that are given short shrift in the typical grades-are-everything paradigm.