From the Director Lisa Lyle

My term in culture

I have been reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which shows how other living beings can offer us ecological lessons and gifts.

I have been listening to Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by the Arbinger Institute, a “touchstone for authentic leadership”.

I have been watching Kiss the Ground (on Netflix), “an inspiring and groundbreaking film that reveals the first viable solution to our climate crisis”.

ZIS offers a transformational and empowering education, and not just for students. My time here has provided me with a wonderful learning opportunity and a plan for retirement as we return to the States in the summer of 2024!

At ZIS, we seek to ensure that each of our students develops both an understanding of, and commitment to, sustainability, and that each leaves school eager to do their part to make the world better. We also want our students to recognize that a systems-thinking approach will create lasting change. I know from conversations with young alumni that this has happened for many of them. My time at ZIS has had the same impact on me.

Since being introduced to permaculture by Kristie Lear, who coordinates sustainability and also oversees the Food Forest at the Lower School, I have read a lot about ecological gardening and restorative practices. In the process, it has become clear to me that we must endeavor to grow as much of our own food as possible. But it is learning more about systems thinking and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that has pushed my thinking even further.

In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer shares the story of Skywoman, taken from the oral tradition of original peoples throughout the Great Lakes region of North America. As she fell through the sky, she clutched branches with fruits and seeds taken from the Tree of Life, which she then scattered across the land. With the help of all the animals, these plants flourished, turning the world green and providing grasses, flowers and trees, as well as medicinal plants, for all beings.

As it turns out, Skywoman was pregnant as she fell to Earth, and because of this, she knew she was responsible for ensuring the flourishing of future generations. Kimmerer maintains that “for all of us, becoming indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it”.

In September, our first grandchild was born. Eleanor’s birth has given me new excitement about the future, even as it has augmented the urgency I feel around these very issues. What would it mean for me to live as if Eleanor’s future really mattered? What would it demand of me to take care of the land as if her life – and the lives of all of us – depended on it?

These are questions that all of us as parents and grandparents must ask ourselves. And that’s why teaching our students about what they can do, supporting them, and being positive about the impact they can make, is so important as we make such great strides on our Education for Sustainability journey. Z