Alumni and students from every division flooded the DC campus for the fun-filled annual tradition.

On April 14, in full William Penn cosplay, Head of School Bryan Garman launched this year’s Sidwell Friends Founder’s Day by handing the ceremonial bell to Lower Schoolers, who rang it out enthusiastically. Garman tipped his pilgrim hat—“Hear ye, hear ye!”—and asked the alumni, students from every division, faculty, and staff for one thing: peace. “We could all use some peace, couldn’t we?” he said. As though in answer, a choral performance from each division followed with songs about friendship and love.

Then the annual Founder’s Day picnic started in earnest under a bright sky with an occasional cherry blossom bloom drifting in the breeze. The line for the massive balloon-like Astro Slide was dotted with students from every division. A group of seniors saw a small parachute (likely meant for the Lower Schoolers) and lofted it to the sky with huge smiles before huddling underneath as it floated back down to earth. Lower Schoolers ran across the DC campus with new face paint and cotton candy. Teachers served up hotdogs and hamburgers (Coach Square was on salad duty, naturally). Middle Schoolers had buddies from the Lower School to entertain. The jazz band infused the whole atmosphere with music. And alumni soaked up every minute.

Alumni were on campus for Let Your Life Speak Day. Earlier, alums Kim Ford ’99, the CEO of Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital, and Margaret Brown ’04, who leads the Natural Resource Defense Council’s (NRDC) Nature Equity & Community Partnerships team, talked to students about how they went from Sidwell Friends to a career in the arts, business, AI, science, politics, and more. Dozens of other alumni spoke to individual classes. 

Keynote speaker Shaw McKean ’08, a serial entrepreneur, gave the students a four-point life lesson: (1) Confidence is earned; (2) Always zig when others zag; (3) Cultivate empathy; and (4) Embrace failure. He explained that bold ideas require confidence and originality, that successful businesses have empathy for their target audience or consumer, and that failure is a datapoint, not a finish line. “Hearing ‘no’ means you are pushing your limits,” McKean said. “This is where the richness of life can be found.”