Season of Commitment: Upper School Shares Social Impact Projects

Contributed by Upper School Spanish Teacher and Community Engagement Coordinator Maria McIvor

In this final edition in our series about the OES ‘22 Season of Commitment, we’re pleased to share with you what several Upper School social impact classes have been working on as part of their coursework.

In French Culture and Communication (FCC), students read and studied the historical context for Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis and just finished a novel, Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse Chinoise. Both novels deal with, among other issues, the lives of emmigrés and those who are marginalized. Inspired by a visit to the Portland Art Museum, FCC students interviewed the organizers of a fundraiser called the Chair Affair, organized by our local furniture bank, the Community Warehouse, that provides household furnishings to neighbors in need, including refugées and clients from local agencies. Local artists transform castoff chairs into beautiful works of art, then invite businesses and individuals to sponsor children’s chairs for $500 each. Inspired by the work of French artists at the museum, the students each created a design for the top of a small stool hoping that their contributions would provide a child with a kid-sized piece of usable art, encourage visits to the museum where the original paintings hang, and promote fundraising during next year’s Chair Affair.

Students rose to the artistic challenge with positive energy and a willingness to develop new skills. See the photos of their creations below.

9th grade world history has focused on the theme of development and diaspora. Their case study has been the story of refugees. They read We Are Displaced, edited by Malala Yousafzai, which tells the story of young women around the world who have been forced to leave their homes. Students were assigned to a country that has faced a major refugee crisis in the past 10 years. They explored the causes of the problem, the experience of refugees leaving the country, and the outcome. The students chose a keyword/theme that was the lens for the refugee experience, then created an object that reflected the theme. They worked collaboratively to build and write an artist statement. The students presented their pieces to the 5th grade this week, which has also been studying refugees over the year. Pictures of their presentations have been added to the slideshow below.

Ninth graders also have also launched a collection of items needed for Refugee Care Collective.

Contemporary American Issues history class has been looking at American society through the lens of race, class, and gender. During Covid especially, senior citizens have been extremely isolated. As our class’s culminating Season of Commitment activity, the students have partnered with Neighborhood House and have been assigned a senior citizen whom they will interview. The students created questions that they have shared with their interviewees in advance, along with an email introducing themselves. They will spend their last class block connecting with the senior citizens and learning from them.

In AP Spanish Language class, after two years of missing our friends at Vose Elementary, AP Spanish students traveled to Vose recently to surprise their fifth-grade buddies. Watch for a complete story with photos about this in the summer issue of OES Magazine!