Torch - Spring 2016

a peer, emphasizes the role of inquiry in resolving confusion and displays compassion by taking the time to help. Ultimately, it is not our role to tell students what to think. It is our job to engage them in a process of seeing and experiencing the core values so that they can determine their own principles. That’s why, whenever we can, we emphasize a shared process with the girls. After all, they are the ones who will have to decide what a better world looks like. And they are the ones who will need the guts to go out and make it happen. Just think about some of the big questions they will face: What does marriage mean today? How do we understand gender and

sexual identity? Will we ever see the end of wasteful packaging and excessive consumption? How will the cultural and racial conflicts of an increasingly interconnected world be resolved? Is it ethical to clone people? And how exactly do we reach out to friends, family, neighbours or complete strangers in need? No matter how advanced technology becomes, there will never be a moral GPS—a navigational system that gives our girls step-by-step instructions about how to travel from the heart of a murky issue to a satisfactory resolution. They have to learn to navigate on their own. So we give them what they need: four fundamental values that will always be there to help them find their way.

Senior School students collaborate in class.

TABLE OF CONTENTS | SPRING 2016 • TORCH 13