During the week of April 1 to 5, Upper School’s Associated Student Body (ASB) held its 2019 Awareness Week. The purpose of Awareness Week is to shed light on different perspectives and experiences and to bring us all closer to understanding each other not only as peers, friends, students, and teachers, but as a multi-faceted community.
This year’s theme was “Listen to Learn” and focused on a different topic each day of the week:
- Monday – Voices from the Community: Who Am I? Who Are We?
- Tuesday – What Don’t We See? Battling Stigma
- Wednesday – Through the Eyes of Others: As Seen Through Art
- Thursday – Discovering You
- Friday – Celebrating Community
There were also different activities corresponding with each day’s theme, including film screenings, workshops, discussions, and games. For example, Tuesday delved into the stigmas surrounding mental health through videos and a town hall discussion, while Thursday tackled the issue of identity and experience at Parker through student-run workshops.
ASB Awareness Director Isabella Walther-Meade, Class of 2021, reflected on the success of the week and her classmates’ willingness to get involved.
“My main goal for Awareness Week was to promote student participation and conversation. Thursday’s student-led workshops [on identity] were a culmination of months of teamwork, communication, and brainstorming about the best way to reach the majority of the student body and ensure success,” said Isabella. “I’m immensely proud of our student leaders who stepped up and had the courage to lead a group of their peers through an identity-oriented exercise, and I believe this is only the beginning of a wave of student enthusiasm and involvement in developing our School culture.”
