Social Action Day encourages students to make a difference

GABBY GUTMAN '11

On Wednesday January 16, and Thursday January 17, Beaver honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. On Wednesday, alumni, parents, and students ran workshops that discussed international aid and relief work, social action at college, homeless services, community organizing, youth empowerment, public service and politics, child advocacy, peace work, and civil rights. The focus of the workshops was to show students how they can better the lives of others in simple ways and how to become more involved in their community.

The all school assembly began with alumni Eve Chayes Lyman ’69 speaking about what she has done to help her community and the world. She has taken several trips to Afghanistan and taken pictures of the struggles that the children endure there. After this, Mr. Principe discussed how in the past few years we have “moved away from focusing on the ‘hero’ legacy of Dr. King and other Civil Rights leaders.” He also spoke about, “finding those in our own community who honor the social action legacy of Dr. King and others by choosing … to make an impact and difference in the lives of others every day.”

Earlier in the week, during advisory, middle and upper school students were asked to think about people in their lives who have honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, not big names in the media, but rather, people who have simply made a difference in the lives of others. All the responses were handed in and several students and faculty members were asked to present their ideas in All School Meeting. Among the students and teachers chosen were Henry Moorhead '10, Amani Hayes Messinger '14, Valerie Leung '11, Danielle Bynoe '10, Mr. Clippinger, Kendall Dardy-Jones '11, Josh Jick '08, Nolan Flaherty '13, Jessye Crawford '08, Ms. Nickerson, Ms. Winston, Tiesha Pough '11, and Josh Carney '14. Some of the students and teachers spoke about people very close to them, and others talked about people they have heard of in their community. Overall, this was a very successful week, and hopefully Social Action Day and the assembly motivated students to become more active in their communities.