Perspective: How Things Appear Differently From Up Above

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Perspective: How Things Appear Differently From Up Above

I went flying with a friend this week, and it made me think about perspective: how things appear differently from up above, looking down; how we have to reorient ourselves to recognize from above what is familiar from the ground; how both sizes and distances change depending on our vantage point.

As we begin a new year and a new chapter in our nation’s history, I am going to remind myself to try on different perspectives, especially ones with which I am unfamiliar – to see things fresh and anew. Looking at an issue from multiple angles can help me know it more deeply and more fully, and ask me to step out of my familiar perspective to see from someone else’s point of view.

Consider Wallace Stevens’s poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” in which Stevens asks us to look at the common blackbird in new ways.

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About Me

Cissy Lewis, an award-winning educator, has been involved in schools all of her life. As an eleven-year-old, she started her first school in Santiago, Chile, teaching reading and writing to children who had no school options. She comes from a line of educators – her mother earned a Ph.D. in political science in an era when few women were earning advanced degrees, and her grandfather taught Greek and Latin.

She started her teaching career at The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, where she taught English in both the Upper and Middle Schools. At The Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee, she was honored with the Best New Teacher award. At the Castilleja School, she twice received the Distinguished Teacher Award.

Cissy Lewis held leadership positions at The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and at The Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California. At Baylor, she joined the administrative team, initially as Dean of Girls and then as Assistant Head of School, to help the school implement the transition from an all-boys school to coeducation. At Castilleja, she was academic dean, Head of Upper School, Assistant Head of School, and interim Head of School. Her responsibilities included oversight of the daily academic operations of the school, and coordinating the recruitment and hiring of new faculty. She also oversaw curricular review, the faculty evaluation system, and faculty professional growth.

Ms. Lewis attended Mt. Holyoke College and subsequently received bachelor’s degrees in both biology and English cum laude from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She pursued graduate studies at The Bread Loaf School of English where she received her M.A. and was honored as Class Marshall. She also earned an M.Ed. at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where she was influenced by Carol Gilligan’s groundbreaking research as reflected in her seminal work In a Different Voice, and focused on the psychology of adolescence and the education of girls.

Ms. Lewis has served on the Board of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California, and The Carey School in San Mateo, California. She enjoys reading, hiking, yoga, and travelling.