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Diversity, Equity, and Community
Faculty Profile
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At the end of last summer, everyone – students, parents, teachers, and administrators alike – had a lot on their minds. Protests over racial injustice continued to smolder. A presidential election that had become especially divisive was on the horizon. And the surrealness of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded all of it.
Anticipating widespread emotional fragility as students and teachers returned to school, Marc Scott, Director of Equity and Community at The Tatnall School and a history instructor in the Upper School, and Rebecca Whitesell, MA, NCC, LPC, a newly-hired counselor at Tatnall, contacted the National Alliance on Mental Illness. They were looking for guidance in developing resources to enable the Tatnall community to engage in open, honest, and productive conversations about mental health.
“We felt like we had to talk about it more, but we knew we would need additional resources to better address mental health concerns,” Scott says.
“We also didn’t want to wait for things to happen and react to them. We wanted to be as proactive as we could,” Whitesell adds.
Their initiatives took a variety of forms. The faculty dress code was relaxed. Additional mental health providers were invited to Tatnall to talk about the importance of self-care. Whitesell and Scott also regularly checked in with students and teachers through email surveys.
“We tried to use that data to inform big-picture ideas about how to reduce stress overall,” Scott says. “For the most part, we acted as mediators.”
Every student survey included the question “Do you need to speak with a school counselor?” Whitesell says “multiple students” who had never experienced anxiety or depression before contacted her, believing they were experiencing symptoms of one of the conditions or both of them.
“What we wanted to help our students do is develop an awareness of what they might be feeling and put a name to it,” Whitesell says.
She encouraged others who came to her feeling overwhelmed to talk with their teachers.
If they felt enough people were struggling, they’d talk with administrators about scheduling a virtual day. Often, concern peaked in anticipation of a potentially hostile event, like the presidential election or the announcement of a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. In those instances, Whitesell and Scott brought everyone together to offer reassurance that no one was alone in what they were feeling. But also to remind them to be respectful of those who felt differently.
They organized two gatherings after the capitol insurrection in January. And following the Chauvin verdict in April, they hosted a special breakout group on Zoom. “Because it was a smaller session, more people were willing to let their guard down and be vulnerable,” Whitesell says.
As the school year ended, Scott says he sensed fatigue, but also optimism among the students. He also picked up on a deeper empathy than he’d previously experienced at the school.
“I think the best way to summarize it is, we’re all willing to give each other more grace,” he says. “This year, people have been more willing to say, ‘I’m not OK.’ And it’s made us more mindful of each other. The worry now is that when the pandemic ends, life will return to the way it was, with people acting like everything’s fine.”
For those reasons, Whitesell and Scott say plans are already underway to renew the focus on mental health during the coming school year.
—Marc Scott
Director of Equity and Community
Balance is very important to me. We needed to find a school with strong academics where our boys would learn to be well-mannered, diligent students, but also a place that would let kids be kids. We were looking for a partner to help guide and shape our boys’ future. When we toured Tatnall, it 100% stood out in that
respect.
—Kate Handling
The Handlings Will ’30, Huck ’33, and Jett ’35
Why
Tatnall?
In the US, children attend school about 180 days a year for an average of 6.8 hours each day. From the time they begin Kindergarten until they graduate from high school, this amounts to approximately 12,240 school hours. Choosing how, and where, their children will spend these school hours is one of the biggest decisions many parents will make.
A recent conversation with Tom Handling (‘97), a Tatnall alumni and physical therapist who owns a practice in the area, and his wife Kate, a freelance graphic artist and website designer, reveals why Tatnall was the right choice for their family.
“Our oldest son Will started at Tatnall in Kindergarten,” says Kate. “Huck and Jett followed, starting in PK3 Early Childhood. Tom is a Tatnall alum, but I’m from Pennsylvania. Delaware is very interesting and offers a lot of different choices. I wanted to explore all the (school) options before making a decision.”
For Tom, the answer was clear.
“I always wanted our boys to go to Tatnall,” he says. “But I supported Kate in wanting to look at a variety of schools both public and private.”
“Tom and I met at the University of Delaware, and I always admired his studying habits and drive to succeed,” says Kate. “He credited Tatnall with instilling a strong work ethic in him from a very young age.
“Balance is very important to me,” she adds. “We needed to find a school with strong academics where our boys would learn to be well-mannered, diligent students, but also a place that would let kids be kids. We were looking for a partner to help guide and shape our boys’ future. When we toured Tatnall, it 100% stood out in that respect.” That tour proved to be a happy walk down memory lane for Tom.
“I can still remember the first tour we took with Will,” he shares. “It brought back so many memories for me and it was great to see the changes around campus as well. They’ve done an amazing job on the outdoor space, it’s nice to see them expand on the natural environment that is so integral to the Tatnall experience.”
The outdoor space was a selling point for Kate too.
“The incredible outdoor campus is like nothing we saw at other schools,” she explains. “Tatnall was definitely the best decision for our family. The teachers have embraced each of our boys’ individual personalities and encourage them to learn every day through exploration and play.
“I felt especially lucky to have the boys at Tatnall this past year during COVID,” Kate continues. “The school really stepped up. They were well organized, and the teachers went above and beyond. Our boys didn’t notice a difference from a normal year. They spent so much of their time outside. Every day when I would pick them up they would get in the car and say, ‘Today was a great day!’”
“The school’s safety protocols were great and communication to parents was wonderful,” adds Tom. “And the new Head of School, Andy Martire, has been an excellent addition. His door has always been open to me via email and phone calls.
“I have zero regrets about the decision,” Tom continues. “My mom went to Tatnall and was an educator there for 23 years. My brother, cousins and other relatives also went there. I wanted our boys to head in that direction and I’m very happy that Kate felt the same way.”
