Image: Christi Belcourt (Michif), The Wisdom of the Universe, 2014, acrylic on canvas, Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Words of the month: Service Learning
Service Learning means engaging with your local and global community in order to understand the root causes of critical social issues, examine your role within systems of power, and create sustainable change.
The mission of the Service Learning Program at BB&N is to foster a school-wide culture of meaningful civic engagement and social action. Through the Service Learning Program, students partner with their local and global communities in order to not only impact change but also to understand the root causes of critical social issues, as well as their role within systems beyond their school and home communities. By engaging in BB&N’s Service Learning program, students learn to investigate issues of local and global significance, to build connections between themselves and their communities at large, to communicate effectively across differences, and gain hands-on experience in teamwork, leadership, and advocacy. In doing so, all students continue to grow in the School’s mission to prepare “students for lives of principled engagement in their communities and the world.”
November is Native American Heritage Month
As the leaves change and fall sets in November is a time for us to come together and celebrate the diverse cultures, traditions, and rich ancestry of Indigenous peoples.
We acknowledge this month the same as all others that the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School is on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Massachusett people. We encourage others to learn about whose land they inhabit and to teach not only history from multiple perspectives but current ways of living and understanding the world around us.
As we think about service learning and stewardship we follow in the footsteps of Indigenous activists who are doing critical work in land conservation. We can learn from local groups like the Native Land Conservancy, who is the first native run land conservation group east of the Mississippi. They focus on preserving landscapes and sharing Wampanoag history and cultural storytelling. Recently, the Native Land Conservancy has partnered with the Wampanoag Common Lands Project another native led group who seeks to restore a 32-acre former Catholic Summer camp to what it may have looked like before European colonization.
Beth Rose-Middletown a professor at UC Davis, focused on Native American environmental policy and conservation tells us, “Land stewardship and care work are necessary for creating resilient landscapes”. Climate change and racial justice are linked and these two groups are just some examples of how changing the ways we care about land can combat climate change and help diverse communities.
Image: Future Ancestral Technologies. Video still, Cannupa Hanska Luger 2019. To artist Cannupa Hanska Luger, “art is a verb, not a noun. Art is a practice, it’s an activity. It is an action.”
Special Feature: BB&N's First Service Fair
On 10/19 the Upper School (US) students and faculty gathered in the NAC for the school's inaugural service fair. Sponsored by an innovation grant, the event gave the US students a chance to learn more about some community organizations in the greater Boston area doing meaningful and impactful work. The event with a keynote speech from our own Leila Bailey-Stewart, rocking a City Year jacket. Leila shared how her family and youth inspired her love and dedication to service as not only a way to get involved in her community, but grow as an individual.
Students visited tables where they could learn about various organizations' missions and opportunities to get involved. The tables were staffed by community partners and students representing them. The organizations that were represented included: Arlington EATS, Boston COVID Tutoring, Catie’s Closet, City Year, Cradles to Crayons, Furnishing Hope, Housing Families, Massachusetts Audubon Society, MSPCA, The Never-Fading Poppy Project, Peace Corps, Partners in Health, Project Bread, Rosie’s Place, Sunrise Hope, Super Joey Foundation, The BASE, Unity Farm Sanctuary, and Vote Forward.
The fair also included fun music provided by DJ Mx.Jarda and a raffle with prizes from local businesses including Uncommon Grounds, Darwins, Boda Borg along with many community partners.
We want to thank all the students who hosted tables: Amelia How, Presley Jacobson, Allison Wu, Allison Wang, Graham Bateman, Maxwell Laibson, Finn Wiegand, Jodie Chen, Presley Jacobson, Lily Coughlan, Tillie Fischoeder, Tasha Roseman, Richelle Chang, Saho Reppucci, Lena Ishii, and Skye Moller. In addition to thanking CELB (Community Engagement Leadership Board) for helping in making this event possible: Mikayla Higgins, Presley Jacobson, Graham Bateman, Haley Hicks, Allison Wu, Alexandra Kluzak, Geneva Burkitt, Bradford Kimball, Aleeza Riaz, Natalie Gersen, Enrica Parmigiani, Kaia Patterson. Thank you again also to the community partners who traveled to share the amazing work they are doing and invited us to take part in it.
If you'd like to learn more about the partners featured at the fair and others (like BAGLY, Cambridge Women's Center, Room to Grow, and more...), reach out to one of our US Service Coordinators Ms. Voligny, Ms. Lyons, and Profe. Gonzenbach, or to Community Outreach and Engagement Specialist, Candie Sanderson.
One School One World Committee Sign-Ups
We are thrilled to be bringing back OSOW (4/22) this year! If you would like to be a member of the planning committee, in partnership with DEIG, please fill out this application . One School One World is BB&N's flagship multicultural festival celebrating the richness of our vibrant, diverse community.
If you are a part of this committee you can expect to:
- Partner with the DEIG team to help develop the program for the day (e.g. performances, cultural tables etc.) and/or support the operations and logistics (e.g. coordination of volunteers, event set-up, registration of attendees etc.).
- Meet with the committee monthly via Zoom until the event (6 meetings total).
- Complete some asynchronous independent tasks to move the planning along.
Highlights
Student Voices
Nnema Epee-Bounya '24 shared her take aways after attending the Round Square International Conference.
"My biggest takeaway from attending the conference was the global perspective that I gained. This global outlook came from experiencing UK culture, and getting to know people from nations like, and unlike my own.
My favorite part of the RoundSquare conference was the ability to become friends with so many people from different backgrounds and walks of life. I have never experienced the feeling of being a part of a group of people who are from different nations that are all excited to get to know each other. My favorite experience was walking around Oxford with friends we made from Argentina or bonding with a student from South Africa during a scavenger hunt."
The MS Community Service Learning Learning Club shared with us what they learned from their Service Day
"The Community Service Day provided a wonderful experience that opened my eyes to not only the effect that a harsh time can have on you financially and physically, but also how it can affect you mentally. I was part of the group cooking meals so that the residents could feel at home. Where you live should not just be a shelter, but it should also be where you enjoy going after a long day. We lifted the load of cooking off of their shoulders for a day or so, like a parent would." - Shiloh Page 7th Grade
"Community Service day was a great time to learn about people who are not as fortunate as we are, and I also loved learning to cook vegetarian chili." - Ilsa Schrag 7th Grade
At the LS siblings Anna and Cameron shared what they enjoy about Asian Affinity Space
"Asian Affinity space is very diverse and has different kinds of cultures that are all connected. It's nice to come together with people who are relatively similar to you. Even though it's an affinity space, it's very inclusive. If you identify, you can go there. It's a nice place to relax and talk to somebody like you." - Anna Gorman-Huang, Grade 6, & Cameron Gorman-Huang, Grade 1
Faculty Profiles
Cayes Jarda (Pronouns: Mx/ Cayes)
Upper School Learning Specialist
1) How do you identify?
I am a super proud Queer Haitian!
2) What gets you up the morning?
My life motto is, "We only die once, so live every day!" If I can hear my alarm go off I consider myself lucky and I get ready to make a great day!
3) What brings you joy?
I love seeing kids confident in themselves and sunny hot days!
4) What made you choose BB&N?
I left a very strict school where kids' opinions were not respected at all, we had silent lunches!?!? When I left that school I vowed to find a place that aligned with my moral compass. BB&N has a lot of work to do to untangle from its roots, but they are committed to being an anti-racist ally to people who look like me and I wanted to be here to represent and ensure we are working towards that goal.
5) Why is DEIG important to you?
DEIG is happening right now, every moment I'm awake. It's important to me because people think it's a one-off conversation of something you can schedule at a PD. It's not. Racist institutions are running 24/7/365 in so we need to be working on dismantling it 24/7/365/
Nathalia Jimenez
Middle School Counselor & Advisory Department Chair
1) How do you identify?
I identify as a First Generation Immigrant Latina
2) What gets you up the morning?
Coffee and Music
3) What brings you joy?
My family, friends, food, books, & Fall Weather
4) What made you choose BB&N?
Their commitment to DEIG work and Health & Wellness.
5) Why is DEIG important to you?
It's important to me because, it's is (or at least should be) at the center of everything we do in our role as educators, to ensure to that everyone is seen, heard and supported for who they are at their core.
Looking Ahead
- 11/4 6-10pm SAPA (South Asian Parents Association) Festival of Lights @ The Neighborhood Club, Newton MA
- 11/5 Deadline to submit the online student application for our Spring Break programs.
- 11/5 10am-12:30pm Lower School Admissions Open House
- 11/5 1-4pm Middle School Admissions Open House
- 11/7 Deadline to submit the Parent Form for International Travel and $300 deposit for Spring break programs.
- 11/14 5-6pm EMPOWER Event for students (Community Room)
- 11/16 12:45-6pm Upper School Service Learning Afternoon
- 11/20 1-3pm PBS (Parents of Black Students) Event (off-campus)
- 11/30 2:30-3:45pm Lower School WAaAG (White Awareness and Accountability Group) Meeting
Inspirations
The U.S. Mint's American Women Quarters Program celebrates five female trailblazers in American history each year between 2022 and 2025. This past month Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to be on U.S currency. She was the first Asian American film star in Hollywood. The other women featured this year were poet Maya Angelou, astronaut Sally Ride, suffragist and politician Nina Otero-Warren, and Wilma Mankiller, first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
- Listen: To ‘I Put a Spell On You’ (Remix) by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins considered one of the original Halloween songs
- Read: AS LONG AS GRASS GROWS: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
- Watch: Reservation Dogs an Indigenous American teen comedy drama television series created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi
DEIG it?
Questions, comments, thoughts, or feedback ? Email us at deig@bbns.org. or complete our short survey.
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This month's newsletter was curated by Jade DuVal, DEIG Programs and Operations Coordinator and Education Fellow.
Credits:
Created with an image by fahrwasser - "Fall background with pumpkins"