A MESSAGE FROM
Crissy Cáceres Head of School
I have been marveling these days at the many ways in which our students exercise their voices and thoughts with openness and confidence. As a Quaker School, we are called to recognize the Light within others and ourselves. That inner light often translates to the thoughts that we outwardly share for others to hear as well as those that we hold within. As I walk the hallways of BFS, shake students’ hands, stop and eat lunch with children in the cafeteria, and have conversations with our students, I am moved by their comfort and the self-assured manner in which they share their opinions and perspectives. Moreover, I am encouraged by the brilliance and ardent tenor of their ideas. A research study focusing on school voice denotes that students who believe that they have a voice in school are seven times more likely to be academically motivated than students who do not believe they have a voice (Quaglia Institute for School Voice and Aspirations, 2016). This link between the use of voice and academics is one that explains the might of our academic program and the colleagues who design and deliver it. Having attended Curriculum Nights in all five divisions of our school – Family Center through High School – and visited several classrooms this fall, the strength of our teachers is boldly present. Brooklyn Friends School, today more than ever, stands to make an indelible impact on the world. More specifically, OUR STUDENTS WILL make that impact. Why, just several months in as Head of School, am I certain of this? The other day, I stopped to consider that in just seventytwo hours, I’d had three meetings on my calendar involving students – one with high school student leaders focusing on climate change, which included adults in solidarity with their efforts; another with middle school students wanting to bring focus to various causes involving endangered animals; and another with lower school students who wanted to speak about their love for recess and shared creative ideas on furthering social connection experiences at school.
Within each meeting, I longed for a video camera that could allow those outside of the spaces that I was sitting in to be witness to these voices. With power in their words, the students spoke about the need for change, and while doing so, they inserted themselves as action agents of that change. There wasn’t just the pointing of the fingers of what is wrong and what is not happening – there was voice given to the hopes they hold for others and for themselves. While in the process of supporting others, they sought to grow in their own learning and consciousness. This selfless pursuit of what is good and just, punctuated by these students and deeply reflected in our entire student body, is what makes me certain of the positive social impact that Brooklyn Friends School students have had and will continue to have on our world. As we navigate the possibilities before us, let us consider ways in which we can use our voices to further relationships with one another. Let us make the space to listen and wonder. Let us collectively learn the skills necessary to share diversity of thoughts and perspectives in a manner that furthers our partnership together and our joint love for our magnificent and much-needed school. Based upon the present challenges in our country and world, the journey ahead will require us to steadfastly ground ourselves in our Quaker values, honoring our community by listening and stewarding a commitment to the sharing of all voices. Our integrity and ability to equitably and peacefully access and live what our school stands for depends on our readiness to listen, speak, and grow. I am here for you and with you on this journey. In partnership and friendship,
2 BROOKLYN FRIENDS SCHOOL JOURNAL Fall 2019
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11/25/19 4:30 PM
