By Louisa Furman, Banner Staff

On Tuesday, October 29, Winsor will forego classes and instead host Community Curriculum Day, an event to reflect on political issues and the upcoming presidential election. Rather than typical academic programming, the day will feature various activities aimed at raising political awareness and promoting respectful dialogue. Community Curriculum Day is an election year tradition for Winsor, although the event took a pause in 2020 due to COVID-19. This year’s theme is “Winsor Wildcats in Action: Civic Engagement and Bridging Divides.”

The theme highlights an important goal of the event: helping students better understand different perspectives. As Mr. Braxton, Director of Community and Inclusion and History teacher, put it, “All we have to do is turn on the news and see that there’s a dysfunction when it comes to civic engagement… you just don’t have the opportunity to engage outside of your comfort zone.” The idea of a political bubble is partially prevalent here at Winsor. According to Ms. Wang, Math Teacher and Upper School Community and Inclusion Coordinator, during past Community Curriculum Days, some “students and faculty felt like their views were censored because they weren’t in the popular majority.” This year’s theme aims to address that issue. However, this event is not intended to change students’ viewpoints, but rather, as Mr. Braxton said, “to be informed” and hear diverse opinions.

Ms. Wang hopes Winsor students can learn to “respectfully disagree” and have conversations about current events that are not often covered in daily classes. She highlighted the link between political discourse and Winsor’s mission to foster inclusion, saying we should “learn about people’s backgrounds, different perspectives… [and] issues that impact different individual students.”

These goals are reflected in the carefully designed schedule of events. The day will begin with separate activities for the Upper and Lower School, including a mock presidential debate. Afterwards, the school will come together for a special assembly to introduce Community Curriculum Day with America in One Room: The Youth Vote, a partnership of political groups whose goal is to “truly discuss the issues in a civil, mutually respectful way.” Next, students will break into smaller groups to reflect on the presentations and participate in a Student Equity Board activity inspired by Jubilee’s “Spectrum” and “Middle Ground” videos. Following this activity, two blocks of student and adult-led workshops will cover a range of topics, from “Food and Politics” to “Up, Up, and Away–the Politics of Space” and, for Lower Schoolers, a session on the Electoral College. To wrap up Community Curriculum Day, the Upper and Lower School will join to hear from a panel of individuals involved in local politics. Overall, these activities aim to bridge divides by encouraging students to listen and engage with differing viewpoints, reflecting the theme of civic engagement.

Community Curriculum Day will offer students a unique opportunity to explore key issues and topics in the 2024 election while learning how to engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue, skills that are increasingly important in today’s political climate. Leah Libman ’25, a co-head of a workshop to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, hopes that the workshops and events will “encourage and promote civil discourse and stray away from echo chambers,” in order to “learn how to discuss big, challenging issues.” Mr. Braxton leaves students with this advice: “Come with a generous mind and be open to receiving new information…Be ready to use your mind…as well as your heart as it relates to these very important issues.”