In the Upper School the student body voted for the theme of The Power Religion. We looked at a variety of religions, from Native American spiritualism and Voodoo to Judaism and Quakerism,  and challenged ourselves to consider the power, for both good and bad, that religion has all over the world. The day began with the whole upper school joined together to hear a panel of speakers representing a variety of religions and religious points of view. Students watched movies around the topic of religion and then discussed the movies within their advisories. Students also broke into small group discussions facilitated by an outside speaker with life experience related to the Power of Religion. Our list of speakers included rabbis, pastors, practicing Buddhists and Hindus, activists and college professors.

In the Middle School, students explored human rights as they fall under six major topics, including environmental rights, women’s rights, immigration, children’s rights, educational rights and taking action around human rights violations. Small group sessions lead by students were supplemented with larger group activities.

The theme in the Lower School was Peace and Peace Makers. Students participated in the Dream Flag Project with visiting poet Cathleen Cohen, designing their own dream flag on peace, which culminated in a wonderful ceremony at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

Our Keynote Speaker for all three divisions was Michael Fowlin. Fowlin presented a moving and powerful program to our entire Upper School called I Am Not the Enemy. This program confronted issues of race, discrimination, violence, stereotypes and personal identity that relate to the full range of social identifiers. Michael Fowlin presented his award-winning program You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me to the Middle School. Similar to I Am Not the Enemy, this presentation helped students to empathize with a variety of ‘characters’ inhabited by Fowlin, from a child with Down’s Syndrome to a black high school football player who realizes he is gay. In the Lower School Fowlin joined with performer, Tania Alexandra, to present Even Small Crayons Make Bright Marks. Through music, monologues, improvisation and audience participation the two challenged students to re-think how they treat one another. For more information on Michael Fowlin visit http://www.michaelfowlin.com/.