Danish 'mindesten' and the High School Awards
In Denmark, one of the things I loved, were mindesten. Literally it means stones that bring things to mind; or memory stones. Stones are placed in the landscape as anchors of memory. They tie something as fleeting and ephemeral as a meeting, a fight, a great love to a rock solid object. The most famous mindesten are the Yelling Stones where Harold Bluetooth united Denmark and gave birth to the nation. His stones are so famous that his Rune for the 'H' 'B' of his initials combined, is what you see on your phone when you connect to bluetooth. It's named after him, because he connected things together.
As humans we like to take things that are ephemeral and turn them into objects: from love turned into wedding rings; to holidays turned into souvenirs; to bravery turned into medals.
This week we are taking a year's worth of engagement, learning, service, effort and turning it into a 'High School Award'. It is a voucher and a card, just as a wedding ring is a bit of metal, and the Yelling Stones are two lumps of rock. But what it actually is, is our desire to make tangible our positive regard for our learners.
I, like many, have reservations about picking individual students out - and perhaps we will think about this over the next year. But I have absolutely no reservations about sharing our positive regard, appreciation and joy for learning and students' thriving and making that tangible, so you can hold it in your hand.
Hopefully the awards will be mindesten for the learners - a chance to hold something in their hand as a reminder of a year well spent.
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