GE N E R AT IONS
“Education of the Heart” –Erik Alfieri ’09
Erik Alfieri ’09 delivered the pre-Thanksgiving Chapel talk for this year’s
Young Alumni Chapel and Dinner, held Tuesday, November 21, 2017.
The Chapel overflowed with nearly 200 of our eighth graders, high school
age alumni and teachers. Erik, a recent graduate of Georgetown University,
began his talk with this quote from the Dalai Lama: “When educating the
minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts.” Erik detailed
how education of the heart has always been foundational at Saint David’s,
and how it is rare to find in other schools.
He noted that our boys’ foundations are built through education of the
heart when Saint David’s teachers guide them to make informed, moral
decisions; when our boys are taught to play sports “with grace and to compete
with a sense of generosity and spirit;” and in the practice of Chapel, which
provides daily opportunity for reflection.
He likened the way the school educates the heart to the scaffolding, tools
and equipment of our construction project. They will be gone one day, but
what will remain will be the integral structure: “This is like the education at
Saint David’s. The foundation remains, and this is what is important.”
“Education is foremost the ability to think critically and tackle the issues
you will encounter in your next steps,” he concluded.
After Erik’s talk, all enjoyed a delicious dinner during which our eighth graders talked to alumni at secondary schools they
are interested in attending. The dinner concluded with presentation of a check to Cheryl Anderson of Save the Children, for
the $25,000 the boys raised last year in support of the Saint David’s Kalina School in Tigray, Ethiopia.
“What a wonderful evening with these alumni whose comportment and generous natures never cease to impress me,” said
Headmaster O’Halloran. “It is true that Saint David’s takes seriously the education of the heart, and it shows.”
78 • Saint David’s Magazine