Schooling with Heart & Vision: A Message from Dr. Moore

Schooling with Heart & Vision:
A Message from Dr. Moore

Trusting the Trajectory

My 23-year-old daughter was as giddy as a 4-year-old on Christmas morning. She sat snuggled next to me on the sofa with a live stream of NASA mission control playing on her phone, and together we watched and listened as the Artemis II mission prepared to execute the translunar injection burn, launching four astronauts to the orbit of the moon. The science behind what we were witnessing was phenomenal. It was a truly historic moment, and watching it with my child was special beyond what I have words to describe, both because of the power of what we were witnessing, but also because of the joy and wonder it brought to her. The idea is that the moon’s gravitational pull will essentially lasso the rocketship around the moon and then sling it back to Earth. Oh, and by the way, minutes before the burn was to begin, there was a warning light about a change in cabin pressure aboard the rocket…

“Mission control to Intrepid: caution light activated.”
“Intrepid to mission control: Copy.”
“Mission control to Intrepid: no action needed.”

Talk about a journey to the unknown… a journey where you are forced to depend on the expertise of others and “trust the process.” If I were in a rocket ship barreling around the earth, I would not stay quite so calm if a caution light popped on right before I was to be sent in a slingshot around the moon… it felt outrageous to listen to these astronauts stay so calm.

Parenting asks something similar of all of us. It is, in so many ways, a journey into the unknown. We prepare as best we can, learn from those with expertise, and then, at key moments, must trust the process even when we cannot yet see the full arc of the path ahead. Parenting asks us to hold both courage and humility at once. We do not control every variable, but we can choose our crew, trust the expertise around us, and keep our eyes fixed on what matters most. Meaningful journeys are rarely simple, but they are made possible through trust, partnership, and a clear sense of purpose. Our children are each on a trajectory of their own, and it is our shared work to help guide them toward lives of strength, confidence, and possibility. At The Howard School, I am grateful that we get to make that journey together. Thank you for your trust in us and for the honor of partnering with you in your child’s story.