Home is where I want to be - Talking Heads [American rock band from New York City]
In the fall of 2016, my wife and I were considering a return to Northwest Arkansas. Born and raised in the Natural State, we went to college at the University of Arkansas and then left for New York City just as Bentonville was reinventing itself. After six years in the City, we were eager to get back to our roots and sow into our native turf. With a job prospect and a kid on the way, we visited Bentonville to see whether we could call it home.
After riding bikes around town to get the lay of the land, we drove to the old Benton County fairgrounds—a grassy, fenced field just south of Downtown—to let our dogs burn off some energy while Rachel and I talked through our impressions. Something about the quiet expanse of green topped by a sunset settling down on the horizon said, simply: this must be the place.
A few months later, Bentonville was home.
One evening the following spring, I biked over to the fairgrounds to watch another sunset take shape. When I arrived at the eastern edge of the field, I came upon a figure facing west. Just as Rachel and I had come to this place a few months before to espy some glimmering potential, so too was Clayton Marsh looking for possibility. Something about the quiet expanse of green topped by a sunset settling down on the horizon said, simply: this must be the place.
A few months later, crews broke ground on what is now the Home building for the Thaden School.
Today, I’m proud to call Clayton my friend and boss, and Thaden a second home. Hundreds of kids from throughout the region—many of whom relocated to Northwest Arkansas with their families because of our school—have found a second home as well.
When prospective students, parents, and faculty enter campus from the east, they see a horizon transformed by school buildings—the architecture of possibility—but the message remains the same: this must be the place.
Home is where I want to be / But I guess I'm already there.
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Sam Slaton is a Cycle Education Specialist and member of the English Faculty at the Thaden School. For more information, visit www.thadenschool.org.
