Throughout this term, and further to their visit to the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia in the Fall students have explored the theme of a Beloved Community in Social Justice and Theology Classes.
Over the next two weeks we will share some of this work, beginning with an article by Lissy Hodge, Mathematics Faculty
and Social Justice Program Coordinator, Saint Thomas Choir School
A Beloved Community is…..
a community where God’s love is spread around the world for all people. (Grade 4 student)
a community of kindness and people that come together to help solve problems. (Grade 7 student)
a community where everyone is kind and caring towards each other, cooperating within the community to solve problems peacefully. (Grade 8 student)
The Social Justice Classes at Saint Thomas Choir School have recently focused on creating and sustaining a Beloved Community. This past January 15th, we observed the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day National Day of Service. We embraced The King Center’s theme of It Starts With Me: Shifting the Cultural Climate Through the Study and Practice of Kingian Nonviolence & their emphasis on creating Beloved Communities. In the morning of our service day, we partnered with Rise Against Hunger. We learned about world hunger and the organization’s impact in the world through their Gather For Good program. Following this, the students, teachers, parents, and members of the parish joined together to package 20,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger to distribute to communities in need around the world; this is enough meals to feed 100 children for an entire school year.
In the afternoon, the students engaged in special Social Justice programming to explore the idea of building a Beloved Community of Kindness.
The 3rd and 4th Graders focused on the metaphor used by Martin Luther King Jr. of a “world house”. He explained that just as a family lives together in a house, people who come from different backgrounds, races, religions, and cultures must learn to live together on this planet. Each student created their own World House Collage that represented their vision for diversity, kindness, and unity.
The 5th and 6th Graders read and listened to the last section of King’s final public speech, “I Have Been to the Mountaintop”. The class discussed how King used the Good Samaritan parable to challenge his audience to practice “a dangerous unselfishness” in the face of violence and discrimination. We then talked about how we might apply this lesson to our own lives everyday. The class listened to some iconic Civil Rights anthems and, of course, we concluded with group singing!
The 7th and 8th Graders brainstormed, created, and launched three “Community Kindness Campaigns” within our community. One group decided to cultivate a collection of motivational quotes and post them in various places around the school. Another group created a Diversity Board which highlights a specific country every couple of weeks. The countries selected are ones that our community members have connections to and the board shares information about the country and culture. The third and final group created a Kindness Bulletin Board where students can post moments of kindness that they have witnessed or experienced.
At the end of our service day, the students gathered together to share what they did in their grade-band groups with the rest of the school. In addition, we brainstormed ways to ensure that our work towards creating a Beloved Community of Kindness extended past our service day and throughout our school year. We’ve continued to incorporate these ideas into our classes and especially in our weekly Social Justice classes. This further ties in to our deeper mission of the Social Justice program and what we strive for in our community:
The purpose of the Social Justice program at Saint Thomas Choir School is to empower students to create and foster an inclusive community centered on belonging. We will challenge the students to live their values in the world and, in the words of the Baptisimal Covenant, “to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.
We asked the students to complete the prompt: “A beloved community is…”. Here are some more of their responses.
3rd & 4th:
- A beloved community is greatly love, happiness, joy, and friendship.
- A beloved community is love and kindness shall always be with you.
5th & 6th:
- A beloved community is loving and caring and inclusive.
- A beloved community is when there is equality, no violence, kindness in the community, peace for everyone, and no segregation in the community.
- A beloved community is a place where people live in harmony and nothing is lost and everyone has each other. Lots of things to be happy about and enjoying your community. There are not things to be unhappy about.
7th & 8th
- A beloved community is an inclusive community where each member strives to do what is best, working together, whether it be easy or difficult .
- A beloved community is a community that is kind, welcoming, and inclusive and can positively strive forward in a time of hardship, struggle, hate, negativity, and darkness.
Photos from RAH meal packaging here
