Black History Month celebrations continued this week in the Middle and Upper Schools with assemblies in Schenck Auditorium facilitated by the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Department. For the US Assembly, members of the Black Affinity student organization spoke on the focus of “celebrating both the struggle and strength” of Black Americans, provided a history of the annual observation, reflected on the harm that microaggressions cause historically marginalized people, and engaged the audience in two rounds of trivia based on songs from Black artists and general knowledge about Black history, respectively. Other notable moments included Sade Adeyeri ’28 and Simone Williams ’28 sharing personal stories about their Afro-Latina mixed heritages and a sweet acknowledgement of long-time US English Teacher Diane Christian’s impending retirement. To close the assembly, members of the Jazz Rock ensemble performed “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Song,” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and Black Affinity members remarked on the importance of “embracing the diversity of our stories and experiences.”

Authors recently visited our Middle School (MS) to enrich current units of study. Seventh graders hosted a Q&A session with award-winning author Reyna Grande, whose memoir, “The Distance Between Us,” is central to their cross-curricular Anatomy of a Human Project. The story delves into Reyna’s life growing up in rural Mexico, family separation, and her harrowing migration across the U.S.-Mexico border when she was 9 years old. In response to students’ insightful questions, Reyna revealed how she was “grappling with the trauma of these experiences” while writing the book and decided not to allow “adult Reyna” to tell this story, as she wanted the tone to represent the child version of herself. The book was “an act of healing… a way to give Little Reyna control of her story,” she said. She also remarked on how as an adult she “broke the cycle” of poverty and was the first in her family to attend college. In turn, students shared their favorite parts of the book. Meanwhile, this afternoon 8th graders, who read “The Berlin Boxing Club” in their English class, met author Robert Sharenow, an award-winning writer and President of Programming for A+E Global Media. Students had previously learned boxing techniques, a partnership with the Health & Wellness Department, to connect with the journey of the main character, a Jewish man in Pre-WWII Germany. During his visit, Robert shared his own journey to becoming a writer and imparted some words of wisdom such as, on the road to success “failure is critically important” and “if you have an idea of something you want to do in life, just start doing it.” Thanks so much to our guest authors for taking the time to speak to our students—and to our MS faculty for facilitating these meaningful experiences for our students!

D-E rang in the Lunar New Year with dynamic assembly performances and a jubilant celebration in the Wharton Lessin Dining Hall, graciously facilitated by our Asian American, Chinese, and Korean Parent Affinity Groups. Festivities began in the Lower School (LS) with recognition of East Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, students sharing Lunar New Year family traditions, and performances, including the LS Chorus singing alongside Upper School (US) students from Ms. Zhao’s Mandarin class, a Chinese folk song dance, a “Colorful Clouds” dance, a Chinese Kung Fu demo, and a KPop bop to “Golden” and “APT.” During the Middle School (MS) and US assemblies, a dragon dance welcomed everyone gathered in Schenck. Members of the Korean Culture Club (KCC), East Asian Affinity (EAA), and Chinese Culture Club (CCC) revealed facts about Lunar New Year and surprised several guests with cash-filled red envelopes under their seats. On stage, students across divisions continued the celebration—LS students sang about “friendship, love, and gratitude”; Austin Chu ’32 played the Korean zither; US students performed a “flower dance”; Gavin Park ’28 led pupils through an exciting Korean taekwondo showcase; CCC members performed a “palm dance”; and Mandarin students closed the assembly with a Chinese ribbon dance.  Later in the day, students took part in a chopsticks competition, calligraphy, and games, while our generous Parent Affinity Groups served Chinese and Korean snacks, homemade dumplings, and more. CCC member Alene Huang ’27 described the activities as “a fun way to introduce students to our clubs, by sharing our traditions.” Mr. Lee, Assistant Director of DEIB (US), added that this was “a moment of joy for everyone.” We wish our D-E families happiness, health, and good luck in the year of the Fire Horse!