Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a 'Day On' For Group of Rivers Students
On Monday, January 16, a group of Rivers students traveled to Brandeis University to take part in the 7th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Interfaith Service alongside college and high school groups from throughout the Greater Boston area. The Day of Service program is “designed to invoke thoughtful conversation and encourage attendees to live out the teachings of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
The day of service is divided into two programs that give students the opportunity for hands-on service as well as service education. In the morning half of the participants pack meals for food-insecure families while the other half attends an Educational/Social Justice Fair with workshops in topics such as Diversity & Privilege, the Education/Achievement Gap, Refugee/Immigration Justice, and Interfaith Relationships & Work. The groups switch assignments for the afternoon session.
When students returned to campus on Tuesday, Director of Diversity and Inclusivity John Bower encouraged students at the morning’s Upper School assembly to hear Dr. King’s call to service – “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” – and seek out opportunities like the one offered on Monday to help and support their communities.
Tuesday also provided opportunities for dialogue around the lunch table with “conversation starters” that broached topics like bias, understanding and communicating across differences, and how each individual can implement aspects of Dr. King’s “dream.”
These conversations incorporated much of the community-building work done on January 9’s Day of Consideration during the workshops presented by facilitators from Visions, Inc. Utilizing Visions’ “Guidelines for Effective Cross-Cultural Dialogue” students and faculty were encouraged to share their own unique experiences and perspectives with each other during lunch.
Rivers’ service learning program includes a variety of opportunities for students to give back to the community. In the fall, Upper and Middle School students organized candy and toiletries drives for local agencies. Nine Upper School students volunteer every Wednesday at Creative Start, a Headstart facility in Waltham, reading to and doing projects with elementary school children enrolled in the program. Coming up on February 5 is the Grade 10 service project, running a Special Olympics basketball program for hundreds of local participants.
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