12 FEATURE
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
Learning Through Observing
Sophomores Jessie Borchert, Left, and rachel pryor watch the movie “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” in Windmoor, Jan. 31. This is the fourth year STA has SHOWN A movie to the entire school. photo by Ella Norton
Jan. 31 STA students and faculty will be watching the documentary “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” which focuses on the life of public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson. Story by Ella Norton Editor-in-Chief
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hen now junior Sally Swinney was in her first year of high school, she filed into the auditorium with her classmates to watch the movie “Big Sonia.” Swinney, who worked at a movie theater at the time and had seen the movie previously, found herself enjoying the movie once more and learning more about the Holocaust, a topic she previously didn’t know too much about. For Swinney, watching a movie to learn allowed her to process the information in a different way than she had before. “I think [learning] is different to actually see it with your own eyes and to witness change happening in the world,” Swinney said. “When you read about it you can sometimes just skim
over it and not get the whole picture or understand what it’s saying.” STA students and faculty watched a film as a whole school again Jan. 31. The documentary “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” focuses on the life of public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson and his battle with inequality in the justice system. The film was introduced by equity outreach coordinator Kelly McKee and administration who requested STA view the film. “True Justice” was shown to finish Catholic School’s Week and to kick off Black History Month. Campus ministry leader Andrea Arredondo believes the film opens up the conversation on relevant topics for a Catholic school to discuss. “The Sisters of St. Joseph, they’re about unifying love,, and so they talk to us about love of God and neighbor without distinction,” Arredondo said. “I think social justice calls us to look at the structures in our society, and as a Sisters of St. Joseph and a Catholic school, I think we are even more responsible to look into these issues because of the legacy that we carry on.” Director of equity outreach and
inclusive education Brianna Walker similraily believes that showing this film to STA is important, especially since it tackles the morality of Capital Punishment. “As we continue to ensure that students of STA are becoming critical thinkers about the world that they live in, its important to make sure that we challenge them to do so,” Walker said. “We can only do that by engaging in conversation about controversial subjects such as this one.” According to Walker, STA encourages engagement with social justice as a tool of empowerment and in alignment with the mission of the school. “Right in our mission we vow to empower you all to change the world,” Walker said. “We’d be remiss to hold this transformative paradigm and not act on it.” Over the past years, Walker has seen the films have different impacts on people. “Honestly, I’ve seen it go both ways,” Walker said. “When it comes to the subject matter of this movie in particular and others like it, I’ve seen people get inspired to learn more and see how they as an individual
