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HM Pivots to Address a World in Crisis

Photo:  Barry Mason

 

In the wake of the October 7th terrorist attacks in Israel, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly P ’18 turned his immediate attention to the physical safety and emotional needs of students, faculty, and staff. HM swiftly enhanced our Public Safety resources by augmenting the number of Public Safety officers on duty, hiring a cadre of explosive detection dogs and canine handlers, and increasing the number of patrol vehicles within and across our campuses.
 
The goal in the initial days was to ensure calm and order for an increasingly diverse student body and the employees who teach and care for them.  To support our students’ well-being, resources were gathered from organizations such as the National Association of School Psychologists and shared as guides for faculty, staff, and parents/guardians for helping children cope. Some of these resources included:  Helping Children Cope With Terrorism, Talking to Children About Violence, How to Talk with Your Children About Conflict and War, How to Support Your Teen During Stressful Times, and How to Talk to Kids About Violence, Crime, and War.
 
HM administrators, faculty, and staff members were directed to check in with students frequently and to identify and refer for support any student expressing concern about the unsettling reports of violence in the Middle East. Attention soon turned to transforming the tragic recent events into learning experiences while providing a supportive environment. A long list of programs for students, teachers, staff, and families have been put in motion, including:
 
  • A multi-hour workshop guided by Dr. Laura Shaw Frank, National Director of the American Jewish Committee's (AJC) Jewish Life Department, and Dr. Ari Gordon, AJC's Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations, that offered students a forum to voice their thoughts, concerns, and questions about the crisis and the current state of the world. All students in grades 6-12, faculty, and staff were invited to participate.
  • A division-wide gathering at the Lower Division featuring a slideshow explaining the Israel-Hamas War in developmentally appropriate ways. In addition, 5th graders also received training on “allyship.”

  •                                Photo:  Barry Mason

    A lunchtime conversation about the pros and cons of anonymous free speech vs. free speech led by students in this year's Upper Division Ethics in School and Society course.
  • A 450-person Shabbat dinner, co-sponsored by the Jewish Family Alliance and the Office of Identity, Culture, and Institutional Equity, held in Cohen Dining Commons.
  •  A “Reading for Peace” hosted by the Upper Division English Department, during which students, faculty, and staff shared poems and prose celebrating the ideal of peace and recognizing the true trauma of war.
  • A roundtable discussion in Dr. Kelly’s office with members, friends, and guests of the Alumni Council about the impact of the ongoing crisis on the HM community.

                            Photo:  Barry Mason

The critical work in the coming weeks and months is aimed at ensuring that our diverse student body can cope with these complex and emotionally charged current events, develop a deeper understanding of people/places/cultures/religions, and care for each other in the process. In future editions of this e-newsletter, we look forward to sharing more about HM’s instructional programming and purposeful, long-term commitment to helping our students make sense of these events, engage in civil discourse, and grasp the dangerous consequences of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate and prejudice.
 
With our campuses safe and secure – and students, faculty and staff feeling supported – HM has managed to avoid horrific examples of antisemitism and Islamophobia seen on and around other high school, university, and college campuses, and in many of our families’ neighborhoods. Simultaneously, we are successfully maintaining an environment that keeps students N-12 in school and engaged. In a letter to our parent community on October 22, 2023, Dr. Kelly summed it up best:
 
Hamas’ terrorist attack on the innocent civilians of Israel and the ensuing loss of civilian lives in Israel and Palestine, including Gaza, remain difficult for the members of our community to process. Also deeply troubling are the unprecedented acts of antisemitism and Islamophobia in our own backyards. And yet, our community, often times defined by how our student body responds to challenges, knew better than to use free speech to hurt and demean others during a time of loss and uncertainty. The relationships we share at Horace Mann School matter.