Today is Human Rights Day. Students will celebrate with a smorgasbord of activities, speakers, and a grand finale performance, all meant to stimulate their intellects and their hearts, and inspire positive action as members of the global community.

In Riely Theatre, keynote speaker Medard Gabel tells Upper School students that, “The inability to envision a positive future is, in itself, a threat to the future. A positive vision of the future is a very powerful thing. It’s important that you realize that what you want for the future can be achieved.”

This is an important message for the students, who have just finished watching “BigPictureSmallWorld.” The short film, which was produced by Gabel, presents an eye-opening look at the realities of the modern world. “The key to understanding human rights,” says Gabel, “is to stand back and get the big picture.” Which is part of what Shipley’s Human Rights Day is all about.

In every division of the School, students will split their time during Human Rights Day between developing their awareness of human rights issues and inspiring them to take positive action.

Upper School
Upper School students will hear from speakers like a volunteer who provided free dental care to people in Honduras, a woman who worked to eradicate polio in India, and a blind man who fought for rights for the blind in Thailand and the United States, in addition to many others who will give a wide perspective of human rights. The students will also play the board game Rights & Wrongs, which was created by Upper School art teacher Steve Baris to simulate the “wide range of human experiences and how they can vary so dramatically depending on a person’s identity and location.”

Middle School
In Middle School, students start the day by viewing Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes, the story of one Japanese girl’s hopeful effort to heal after the bombing of Hiroshima. They’ll spend part of the morning making 1,000 paper cranes, which will be hung in the Middle School Resource Center. Eighth grade students will make presentations to their peers about topics such as child hunger, famous immigrants, civilian refugees in regions with warfare, human trafficking, and stereotypes of women throughout the globe, among others. They, too, will see Medard Gabel’s dynamic presentation.

Lower School
Lower School students have a busy day planned as well. They’ll learn about the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and make banners celebrating the 10 basic principles of the Convention. They’ll hear from a South African woman about the experience of children in other parts of the world, participate in an interactive program filled with song and dance, and write letters to students in South Africa. Then, they’ll parade to the Upper School with their banners proudly displayed, joining students from the other two divisions in Yarnall for a performance by the world music group Animus. Then they’ll count the pennies they’ve collected over the course of the month, pennies that will go towards building schools in Afghanistan as part of the Pennies for Peace program.

What's the Point?
The Dalai Lama said, “Education is much more than a matter of imparting the knowledge and skills by which narrow goals are achieved. It is also about opening the child’s eyes to the needs and rights of others.” Shipley’s Human Rights Day seeks to broaden students’ perspectives in this way, while empowering them to do something about it, and to envision a positive future in which they are the leaders.