On October 10, the entire community – Lower, Middle, and Upper School students and Faculty/Staff members – participated in an all-school read of the book, Mirrors, which was organized by Holton's faculty diversity initiative group named TIDE (Towards Identity Diversity and Equity). All of the students first had to read Mirrors and then participate in grade-specific activities and advisory conversations that helped explore their own identity and traditions before coming together for the all-school read. Mirrors follows the story of two families' daily routines and practices, one who lives in Australia and the other in North Africa.
Two reflective questions were posed to each of the students: In what ways, do you mirror one of your fellow Holton students and in which ways, can you see a window into someone else's life? With 80 groups of mixed divisions, the activity started with Lower School students leading an ice-breaker activity for the group. After the ice-breaker, the girls were paired up cross-divisional to discuss the ways their partner was similar or different from one another. This activity then led to the final, cumulative activity where each student created an artistic representation of her identity and explained the item to the group. All of these items were then placed with other members' items to form a collage and finally combined with other wedges to create a beautiful circle that displayed the collaboration and breadth of multiple perspectives.
Here is some feedback from students and faculty members on the community activity:
"I absolutely loved getting to talk with the Lower Schoolers! I saw one of my girls this week in the hall and she hugged me-- all around such a great activity."
"A senior commented that this gives us a way to see how there is no 'typical' Holton girl, but that we have a lot of diversity."
"One of my advisees is a new students, who is typically very quiet, but she totally came alive when working with the third grader."
"There was one 5th grader in my group who obviously loved this activity. She spent as much time as she could on her symbol, which was a cat with a candle nearby. Watching her work carefully on the cat's whiskers, I knew she had really given lots of thought to the activity, and it was something very important to her. Now that I have seen the slices of our symbols hanging in the Lower School, I can see the school togetherness and thoughtfulness that this activity inspired."
It was a great collaborative day for learning, sharing, and most importantly to know that a Holton girl comes with varied perspectives and identities.
Some examples of the finished collages that are currently hanging in the Lower School.