“The trial of Derek Chauvin, who is charged with the killing of George Floyd, has impacted our nation — and the communities we call home — in a variety of ways. We understand this trial will likely resurface many of the fears, feelings, and conversations of last spring,” US Principal Max Delgado wrote in a note to students Apr. 18 announcing a series of workshops this week.

Students will be required to attend one and indicated their choice on a Google Form linked in the message. Most activities will take place during X-Periods or Wednesday Flex Days.

Tuesday, April 20 (X-Period)

History Dept: The Justice System in Context
History teachers Dr. Moerer and Mr. Shulow will host an open discussion on how criminal trials are conducted in the American judicial system and how specifically the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd has been conducted as well as the impacts that the trial is having on our communities.

Location: Huss Center for in-person (cap 92 students) or streaming from home or Tutorial space.

Wednesday, April 21 (Flex Day; all sessions via Google Meet links)

History Dept: Race and Power in Context
Race is not a biological attribute so how is it that it determines so much about our lives and the way we walk through the world? The answer is in history, of power & colonialism, and the elevation of one story over another. This session will offer a brief overview of the construction of race and racism in the United States. Facilitators: Mollie Ward and Sushmita Hodges

Time: 10-11 am

Affinity Groups and the White Ally / Antiracist Special-Interest Group:
Any US Affinity or Special Interest Group wishing to hold affinity group meetings with agendas centered on the organization’s mission as it relates to the Chauvin trial and this moment should contact their organization’s faculty advisor and Dr. Taylor. A reminder that affinity groups are open to those who share a particular identity.

Time: 1:00-1:45pm

Counseling Office:
Emily Barbee and Susanna Short, our Upper School Counselors will host an open discussion for students wishing to reflect on the implications of this moment.

Time: 2:00-3:00pm

After the Verdict: Date and Schedule TBD

History Dept: The Justice System in Context
Regardless of the outcome of the Chauvin trial, History teachers Dr. Moerer and Mr. Shulow will host an open discussion shortly after the verdict is announced to reflect on the verdict and how it fits within the larger context of the criminal justice system.

Time: TBD

Counseling Office
Emily Barbee and Susanna Short, our Upper School Counselors will host an open discussion for students wishing to reflect on the implications of the verdict.

Time: TBD

Common Ground / White Ally / Antiracist Special-Interest Group
Students involved in either Common Ground and/or the White Ally / Antiracist Special-Interest may hold a meeting to reflect on the implications of the verdict.

Time: TBD

SPA Memory Project: April 29 – May 3: X-Period

Memory Project: Postcards “To and From”
Inspired by a writing project developed for SPA’s Literature of Resistance (LoR) course — which itself was inspired by a LitHub writing project — students will be invited to write open postcards for the purpose of documenting what it has felt like to live through this time. Students may write about this moment in a variety of ways– considering geographically specific experiences, the pandemic, policing, social unrest, or the historical underpinnings of racialized violence.

Below are the three options students may choose from:

Writing a postcard from your neighborhood or other location which has held some significance to you, and which has acted as a “home-base” from which you’ve processed the last year and may process the coming months. How has “place” informed your understanding of this moment and what can or should come next?

Writing a postcard from some aspect of your identity. Consider age, race, gender, nationality, religion– whatever markers make sense for you. You might list several components of your intersectional identity or just one. How has your identity informed your understanding of this moment and what can or should come next?

Letter to a person, geography, community, etc. This version of the essay is specifically written to someone or something else. You might write to someone you’ve never met but you’d like to talk to or you might write to someone you know well or love but whom you can’t talk to about your ideas or experiences. This is your opportunity to share your understanding of this moment and what can or should come next.

These postcards will be collected and archived at the school as a memory project so that future generations of SPA students can better understand this moment and its impact on those who lived it. All students participating in the “postcards to/from” will be expected to produce writing that follows guidelines similar to those used for the opinion board:

All postcards must be signed by the writer.
No “calling out” of community members or groups within the school.
No personal attacks (explicit or implicit).
No writing can make any community member feel threatened, unsafe, or excluded from the SPA community.

To model what can be written, examples of these “to/from” postcards written by LoR students will be posted around the school with an open reading by select LoR place during an open Advisory on Thursday, April 29 (X-Period).

Students will have the opportunity to be writers, artists, or both.

STUDENT WRITERS:

Postcards “To/From” part 1 (Writing); Friday, April 30 during X-Period: interested students will be given the time and space to write their postcards. Students will be able to indicate if they want to illustrate their postcards or have another student illustrate their postcards.

Facilitated by Kristin Collier and Amanda Minoff
Location: Huss and Releaf Commons

STUDENT ARTISTS:

Postcards “To/From” part 2 (Art); Thursday, May 6 during X-Period: interested students will be given the time and space to either illustrate their postcards or the postcards of other student writers.

Facilitated by Maura Duvra
Location: Art Commons

Before being archived, selections of these “to/from” postcards written by students will be posted around the school.

Delgado spoke to the motivation behind the offerings: “…this trial does not exist in isolation. It is now part of a larger historical moment as our nation attempts to grapple with the legacy of violence against people of color, and specifically the Black community. It is our ardent hope that we will meet — and speak to — this moment in ways that advance the values of our school and our shared goals of racial equity and anti-racism.”