Upper School Council hosts Speaker Day to expand perspectives on gender

GEORGIA ROSS THE RUBICON

On Apr. 24, the SPA community came together for a day of listening and growth confront gender equity and experience, a topic the US Council (USC) and Student Intercultural Life Council (SILC) has deemed prevalent in the student body. Every dents engage with it,” said advisory of USC, Dr. Jon Peterson.

To begin the process, USC members find topics they find important to the community. After running a vote to see what the majority of the council is in favor of, they begin their search for speakers. In this step, many speakers are found through personal con-

After a national search, Minnie Lee will lead the upper school as the principal.

College Counselor

Karna Ivory was part of the search committee. She described Lee as “very real and authentic.” other year, alternating between Speaker Day and Service Day, USC and SILC brainstorm potential topics select one that seems influential on the SPA community. The prime objective of Speaker Day is “to bring a lot of very diverse voices from within and without the community to talk about the issue of gender (or whatever the topic is) and to have stu- nections, alumni who have some experience with gender equality, and a few “cold emails [... to] professors who may be on the topic,” said Dr. Peterson. Some speakers will have a certain expertise on gender equality, and some will merely speak to their experience on how gender has impacted them in the work force. The council creates an elaborate sched- challenging obstacle of planning speaker day is accommodating them, making sure they have the proper technology and are prepared for the day.

Junior Melina Kannakutty served on the student panel: “She was a teacher before she became admin, so she’s really invested in student connection,” she said.

USC Co-president Maryeva Gonzalez said that the topic of gender equality and experience is applicable to highschoolers in general.

“High school is kind of a time where you’re figuring out how your identity shapes your life experience, whether good or bad,” Gonzalez said. Gender equality and expirience is “evergreen,” said Peterson, “Every year in senior speeches, there are female identifying students that talk about their experience at SPA and life in general and the challenges and difficulties that the patriarchy puts in their way.”

KEYNOTE. The Upper School Council meets to prepare for speaker day, making sure each speaker receives the accomodations they need. The keynote speaker for the 2023 school year was Dr. Rose Brewer, a social activist, scholar, as well as an author that focuses on Black feminism, gender, and social change. ule that works for all the speakers, and come up activities that support the topic for smaller group times aswell. The day is intertwined with various breakout groups where advisories will attend different speakers, including the keynote, and reflective spaces where advisories will unpack the material. Since not all the speakers are able to visit on campus, some will attend on Zoom. The most continued on pg. 2