17. Motto- Go Forth Unafraid

“This is why I believe in Dalton. Not every parent, not every teacher, not every child is perfect, but a sufficient number of each group are willing to work towards perfection to the end that something beautiful results. We go forth unafraid, and our school reflects the thinking, being, and action of an intelligent, cooperative group.”
—Helen Parkhurst

Ivied walls, weathered cornerstones and boisterous fight songs conjure alma maters from the Pac 10 to Oxford. But only three words define a Daltonian: Go. Forth. Unafraid.

That’s heavy stuff. Telling a kindergartner, or a preschooler — depending on your era — go forth unafraid? Yet every June, for decades, Dalton students have marked the completion of another year of learning and everything else from raging hormones, shifting friendships, and fashion trends by walking through a white picket arch and singing a school song that ends with the line, ”here we have learned to go forth unafraid!”

For me those words have resounded far beyond the Martin Theater. I carried them with me as I walked down the aisle. They’ve peppered the pep talks I’ve given my own kids who are now navigating the ups and downs of adolescence. When I look back on my Dalton days, I remember with great pride reciting those words under my breath while waiting in the cafeteria to hear my name in the roll call of high school presidents who preceded me. Even now, when I read the Facebook posts of classmates who maybe didn’t have the rosy Dalton experience I had — but who managed to come out on the other side more than alright, anyway — I imagine those three words being a source of comfort and inspiration for them too.

For this and so much more I am grateful and it’s why to this day, I still sing to you. This is my praise.
—Erika Terry Derryck ’91