I stopped in yesterday at Quidnessett Elementary School to listen to the holiday concert put on by the students. My wife works there in the after school programs so I try and do what I can to show support for their activities but the truth is that I am a sucker for kids performing in the arts. I just love that stuff. One of the songs had 25 first graders doing a snowflake dance that drew my attention to just how different and hysterical each interpretation was. I get immense joy watching the individuality on display painstakingly coalesced by the music director to produce, not just a song, but a feeling of joy and community. From this one reviewer, mission accomplished!
I usually find myself musing philosophically during these events and this occasion brought to mind synergies between what I was witnessing and the parallel to our OSHEAN tag line message this year of #StongerTogether. Quidnessett Elementary is a school full of diversity. It has a wide range of economic circumstance (55% poverty) and ethnic diversity. All of the individuality and diversity however, while evident, was dwarfed by the music, family and community bonding and the holiday spirit present in that auditorium. When I look back on this year and the kinds of work being done by our membership, I can’t help but create parallels. OSHEAN has six distinct vertical markets with as much diversity as you can imagine, yet we find commonality and strength through the membership all the time. Best practices are shared and the buying power of the collaborative results in lower costs for all. Many times some of our larger Institutions will reach out and help the ones with fewer resources such as Salve Regina did this year for St. Georges School. Collaboration is accelerating on the OSHEAN network. URI and Brown just established a gigabit research connection and Bryant helped our AG’s office with a business continuity solution.
So while I imagine that many might think Dave an odd duck to correlate a local kindergarten singing a carol to OSHEAN’s hashtag, I am one to honor my musings and put them out there. ‘Tis the season to be jolly so on behalf of the team here at OSHEAN, I extend our best for a healthy and happy holiday season to our membership and their extended families.