Though Valentine’s Day has passed, this week in Chapel we heard from eighth graders and Chaplain Mel about the importance of love in our lives. Though this topic is often at the heart of much of Chapel—whether it’s sharing faith traditions rooted in love and care for each other, or celebrating important figures in our world like Martin Luther King, Jr. who aspired to build loving relationships across differences—this week’s Chapel asked our community to share a photo and a phrase that encapsulated their definition of love. The result was this beautiful slideshow created by our eighth grade Chapel team, which was both heartwarming and thoughtful.
In the spirit of learning what it means to love each other and uphold others’ dignity, I hope you’ll join us next week for our Parent Partnership meeting on Tuesday, March 4 from 8:15–9:15 a.m. both in the Middle School Library and on Zoom. We’ll hear from Laura Todis about how we are teaching students to show respect for each other, particularly regarding each individual’s identity. In the Middle School we have been having a lot of conversations with students about what they see online, and much of that involves language that is hurtful but is shared as humor and normalized. Our students have been struggling to navigate this complicated landscape often by experimenting with language that is disrespectful. Though they might understand that the language is provocative, they often don’t realize its impact since they are hearing it in their music, seeing it in social media, and being used by figures they look up to.
Our meeting next Tuesday will walk you through the work we’re doing with students to better understand language and its meaning, and build skills to respond when others use the language or when they encounter it themselves. We can only do this work in partnership with you, so please join us to learn more about how we are having these conversations, and how you can step into these discussions with your children as well. We are inviting grades 4-8 to join us, so please reach out to any fourth or fifth grade families who might also be interested in this topic.