Convocation 2015: A Just Community
Source/Author: Raffi Darrow, Ebytes Editor
August 21, 2015
As is tradition at Shorecrest Preparatory School, the Upper School grades 9-12 convened on the first day of school before classes started in the Janet Root Theatre for Convocation. There, the Class of 2016 was introduced formally to the community for the first time.
(This prompted one Upper School student to request a copy of "Night" to borrow.)
Although both Mr. Dillow and Mr. Murphy focused primarily on being just on a personal level, student leaders of the Honor Council then spoke about an honest and just student body from an academic perspective. Seniors Henry W and Peninah B reminded students that it's a better choice to have a potentially hard conversation with a teacher about not being able to finish an assignment or study properly, than it is to have a conversation with the Honor Council and Discipline Committee about repercussions for a poor choice.
Each member of the Class of 2016 then came on stage to sign The Book, promising to uphold the Honor Pledge througout the school year. Similar signings in grade-level Honor Books will occur for ninth-eleventh grades during the first week of classes.
Read more about this tradition and others in the Upper School in Shorecrest's Parent Guide to Upper School.
A few more photos from Convocation:
Photos from senior parking spot painting.
Upper School Head, Tom Dillow, opened with remarks regarding recent “race wars” and racial profiling headlining the news. He warned students that although such instances seem so far removed from the values of the Shorecrest community, “we feel a false sense of accomplishment when we juxtapose our own progress on issues of race and intolerance with those of the crazies out there. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know we too have work to do to help create a more just and meaningful society."
So what can you do?
"First, seek to understand." Dillow prescribed. "Not just what happened or why, but explore the conditions, psychological, socio-economic and cultural ones that created a Dylan Roof... This is an exciting time to be a student, and you have the opportunity, because it is your full-time job at this time of your life, to study and learn more about the issues that face our country, to better understand the sources of inequality and intolerance to help us move beyond them."
"Secondly, don’t be indifferent. Have the courage to make a difference. We are comfortable here at Shorecrest. We live comfortable lives and we learn in comfortable classrooms. We drive home in our comfortable cars. Yet don’t let your comfort lead you to a placid acceptance of the status quo. Elie Wiesel, the great author of "Night" warns us about the dangers of apathy or indifference:
'The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.'"
(This prompted one Upper School student to request a copy of "Night" to borrow.)
And last, Mr. Dillow asked student to commit themselves "to a language of respect in our community. When you walk the school hallways, or sit out at the lunch tables on the Landy Deck, or get ready for practice in the locker rooms – basically, in the private spaces where adults are not always present, what kind of language is acceptable in our community?"
And if a student does hear disparaging language, they should not simply dismiss it by thinking this is only the behavior of a few. "...what does it say about the rest of us if they feel comfortable enough to speak in that way among us? To openly violate our community standards of respect and kindness? It may mean that our threshold for accepting these things is too low. If you hear derogatory words in the hallways of school, or on the Landy deck, or in the locker room, don’t accept them. I challenge you to have the courage to tell the person to take it somewhere else. We won’t become a more just and welcoming community until those who violate these norms understand that the other members of the community will not tolerate them. Figure out how not to tolerate them."
Headmaster Mike Murphy was then introduced, and he echoed Mr. Dillow's thoughts on accepting others and having integrity. He hinted at how these traits may help carry out a goal that most members of the Class of 2016 shared privately with him.
To help the ideas of tolerance hit home, Mr. Murphy shared a video that had also been shared with Shorecrest faculty and staff, entitled "Love Has No Labels". The video challenges each of us to open our eyes to our bias and prejudices, and work to stop them in ourselves, our friends, our families and our colleagues.
To help the ideas of tolerance hit home, Mr. Murphy shared a video that had also been shared with Shorecrest faculty and staff, entitled "Love Has No Labels". The video challenges each of us to open our eyes to our bias and prejudices, and work to stop them in ourselves, our friends, our families and our colleagues.
Although both Mr. Dillow and Mr. Murphy focused primarily on being just on a personal level, student leaders of the Honor Council then spoke about an honest and just student body from an academic perspective. Seniors Henry W and Peninah B reminded students that it's a better choice to have a potentially hard conversation with a teacher about not being able to finish an assignment or study properly, than it is to have a conversation with the Honor Council and Discipline Committee about repercussions for a poor choice.
Each member of the Class of 2016 then came on stage to sign The Book, promising to uphold the Honor Pledge througout the school year. Similar signings in grade-level Honor Books will occur for ninth-eleventh grades during the first week of classes.
Read more about this tradition and others in the Upper School in Shorecrest's Parent Guide to Upper School.
A few more photos from Convocation:
Photos from senior parking spot painting.
