Moments That Define Us

Last Thursday, 7th and 8th Grade Humanities teachers hosted an impromptu Zoom to process what happened at the Capitol building the afternoon before. Not knowing what would unfold in the hours, days, and weeks after the insurrection, Ms. Choudhry, Mr. Donaldson, and Mr. Adam nonetheless knew this event would be a “defining” one for students. As if the onset of a global pandemic weren’t enough, our kids had yet another “unprecedented” (the mot du jour) development to make sense of in school. 

Students hopped on Thursday’s Zoom call with a range of knowledge about the facts of the event, which their Humanities teachers were able to size up quickly and with “unprecedented” precision using the Zoom polling feature. Students inventoried their knowledge in a number of categories, including the facts of the insurrection and the extent to which they felt it mattered to them personally. Once dialogue commenced, Bennett H. and Jesse P. helped advance the conversation with their own reflections about seeing anti-Black and anti-semitic imagery so blatantly displayed in the most sacred space of our democracy. 

While the Zoom was impromptu and the events still raw and ongoing, the students’ Cathedral education was on full display–an education that demands perspective, curiosity, humility, conviction, and ethical discernment. They engaged in all ways resonant with our Core Values.