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Dear Prospective Family,
It is not uncommon for seniors to identify their freshman prefect as one of the most influential people from their time at Midland. When you first arrive on campus, not having any friends yet, living away from home for the first time, and not knowing how Midland works can be a little scary. But your freshman prefects, two seniors who have been chosen to lead you through your first weeks on campus, are here to help. And once you settle into the routines, your prefects become friends and mentors.
Theories about leadership abound, genuine opportunities to learn by doing it are a bit rarer. Like no other school, Midland’s senior class really runs the school. Every night, senior prefects don’t just check in their fellow students, they check on them. They make sure that every student has what they need to be successful, starting with a friend. The two Head Prefects work together to run assembly, inspire the other seniors, and set the tone for the school. And the whole class hosts clubs and activities that get everyone involved. Seniors also oversee their peers by leading the work crews; all the cleaning, much of the maintenance on campus, daily harvest in the garden, and assuring that the horses, chickens and pigs all get fed.
More important is the path to these substantial responsibilities. Our seniors don’t just show up knowing how to run the place, they learned it from those who came before them. Metaphorically, it all starts with your first shower fire — the day you have to light and tend the fire that heats the water for your classmates’ showers. While that may sound daunting, you will absolutely be guided by your prefects. They will teach you not just how to light the fire, but how to do it really well. And while you may not ever have to light a shower fire again after you leave Midland, you have developed the foundational skills for a life of learning, leadership, or just for being a reliable friend.
As you well know, this year has been a year like no other. Because Midland has a long history of using our outdoor classroom spaces, some of the changes in response to the coronavirus have been easy. And for the ones that are more difficult, social distancing and wearing a mask all the time, the seniors are leading the way. After looking to the guidance of past seniors, they know that the tone they set is contagious in the very best sense.
I hope you will come see for yourself the many authentic ways Midland students develop their leadership skills.
Cheers,
Christopher Barnes
Head of School
P.S. If you haven’t already seen it, you can learn a little more about leadership at Midland in a letter from Melia and Raymond, our Head Prefects.
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Prefects: a mentor that will always be there for you 
Perhaps one of the best parts of the prefect program occurs well beyond the four years of Midland's high school experience. Time and time again, we hear from our alumni that their prefects continue to be mentors even after they have graduated — often well into college and beyond.
In the tumultuousness of the past year, we were especially touched watching the prefects who had the class of 2020 as their prefectees graduate in the time of Covid. So many reached out, sending emails and making phone calls, to check in on the graduates as their time at Midland came to a close. These two excerpts are some of our favorites from the notes that were shared with us.
"It's hard to see for yourself because you've been living with each other for the past four years, but one of the best parts of being a prefect is getting to check in every now and again to see how our prefectees have grown and changed. I'm looking forward so much to tune into graduation this evening to get to hear the faculty speak about each of you. Being your prefect was and is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I hope we can all stay in contact well after you've graduated and gone on to do bigger and better things." - Duncan '17
"Graduating high school — especially from Midland — is truly a massive achievement, and you have all done so with flying colors. Although it sounds cliche, what you have gained from Midland will stick with you. The reason it's cliche is because it's true. I continue to discover what my time there has done for me, and in the coming years I suspect you all will too — no matter where you go.
"I do miss our nightly checkins, and in my mind you are all exactly the same as four years ago which makes it even harder to fathom that you are graduating. I'm incredibly grateful to have the memory of seeing each of you find your place at Midland and watching you grow throughout your first year. I have no doubt that you are all equipped for whatever life throws at you. You have overcome years of unique challenges brought to you by Midland, capped off by the utter mess of COVID-19 and yet here you are checking off a major life milestone, ready to greet what comes next. Congratulations to you all." - Tate '17
P.S. When we reached out to Duncan and Tate to ask permission to share these notes, they wanted us to share with you that they are both not only still in touch with their prefectees, but their own prefects from their freshman year at Midland, too.
Showerfires | Learning lessons through gratifying work
For many students, one of the most daunting tasks of the first few weeks of their Midland experience is building their first showerfire. But soon enough, they realize that (particularly with hot shower water at stake) their whole community is invested in their success and at hand to support the learning process. From that point forward, building a showerfire is a warm, sometimes challenging, sometimes easy, reliable part of the Midland experience. And seeing the smoke rising from the showerfire box — whether from your own hard work or someone else's — is one of the many simple joys of each day.
The Jobs Program at Midland: Get your hands dirty!
There is nothing more satisfying than a job well done, and that goes doubly in a community where everyone knows they are needed. From washing dishes and cleaning classrooms to harvesting lettuce and feeding the horses, our students not only keep our campus running, but the seniors actually run the jobs program, each class teaching the next how to do their jobs and how to lead effectively. By holding a variety of jobs during their time at Midland, our students enhance their resumes, too, equipping them to take summer jobs and internships and to work in college, as well.
As Raymond '21 says, “We have many responsibilities we have to uphold outside of the classroom, so that we feel like needed members of the community. Midland is teaching life skills outside of the curriculum, and maybe that is one reason why the students here seem happier overall.” Students get to know each other better and have fun at their jobs, too, simultaneously building community and morale, all while they contribute to the community.
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