Torch - Spring 2015

Institute at Havergal

“What Kind of World Do I Want?”

By Ann Peel, Director, Institute at Havergal

In response to the guiding question underlying the Institute’s mission, “What kind of world do I want” and “How will I contribute to that world?” students demonstrate originality and passion. Ethical leadership is a long-standing Havergal commitment. Our students understand the importance of aligning their action in the world with their values. They also understand that leadership is a learning opportunity that starts with their courage to ask challenging questions. This year, Irshad Manji’s guidance helped us to understand the importance of asking questions with an open mind and being genuinely curious to learn. She taught us to have faith that we will all learn from our questions and not to let our fears of asking a difficult question keep us out of the conversation. It is important for young women to understand that conformity, although comfortable, can often hold one back, and that “standing for nothing” can demonstrate a lack of commitment to ideas. This issue of the Torch features some of the dozens of projects Havergal students have initiated to contribute to the world in which they want to live.

Free to Be Should I say what I think? Yes. Standing for nothing is a cop out. After Irshad Manji’s visit to Havergal in October, the Free to Be Group thought students needed the opportunity to have the difficult conversations her work supports—the ones that are usually avoided. They decided that the first conversation they would ask at their event was: “When should we limit freedom of speech?” Their goals were to open minds, to learn how to have difficult conversations, to learn how to give and take offense and to raise awareness of patterns of conversation at Havergal. Through this after-school event, students delved deeply into these issues and learned how to facilitate a complex conversation, how to invite different viewpoints and how to develop techniques to demonstrate an open mind.

Children’s Rights Club Marley Melbourne believes that children’s rights matter.

“I think that if more children knew about their rights, they would probably be more confident in themselves and their choices,” Marley says (Grade 5). “It is important that adults encourage children to know their rights and for governments who have agreed to the declaration of children’s rights to live up to their word.” Marley will be working with one of Havergal’s community partners, Grenoble Public School, to initiate a Children’s Rights Club to educate students on their rights and the importance of standing up for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS | SPRING 2015 • TORCH 15