There was something in the air last week at Crossroads Academy. Maybe it was the rhythm of iambic pentameter echoing down the halls, or the sight of students trying on crowns, cloaks, and courage. Our beloved Shakespeare Day was Friday —and with it came a reminder that felt both ancient and entirely present:
“A kind heart is a fountain of gladness.”
In the Garone Zone, where we spend our days thinking about the inner lives of children—how they feel, how they connect, how they grow—this line lands with particular force. A fountain doesn’t hold its water; it gives it away. Gladness, then, is something we create and share.
Shakespeare’s characters knew this well. Amid the tangled plots and tragic turns, they return again and again to joy, to presence, to the fullness of living:
- “This above all: to thine own self be true.”
- “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”
- “Joy delights in joy.”
Our students stepped into these words to be in the moment—fully, imperfectly, joyfully.
But here is the truth we know: joy is not the absence of challenge. Shakespeare’s characters constantly wrestle, stumble, and misunderstand one another. But when they return to kindness—when they choose empathy, generosity, even humor—they find their way back to gladness.
So last week, as we celebrated Shakespeare Day, perhaps the charge was a simple one: Be the fountain.
We let kindness spill over in small ways—a held door, a patient ear, a generous assumption. We let joy be something we practiced and shared.
Gladness, when given space and time, renews itself, especially at a school where strong minds and kind hearts flourish.
