Human Development Day One
As part of the new Human Development Program, Upper School students will dive into identity, social justice, and community partnerships during seven half-day retreats (both on and off campus) throughout the school year.
9th Grade: "Identity and Self" will have our students exploring their own identities and assets as well as those of peers in different educational settings.
10th Grade: "Identity in Community" will have our students looking both inward and outward through the lens of socioeconomics in the Bay Area and learning about non-profits that address poverty and housing crisis.
11th Grade: "Identity in Social Context" will have students develop relationships with residents in senior living facilities to help them think critically about historical and institutional trends in society.
12th Grade: "Advocacy and Action" will have students using a decision-making framework to develop critical awareness and a roadmap for action within their own spheres of influence.
Enjoy a gallery of images from our first Human Development day featuring the 9th graders working with older student facilitators on how they identify themselves and the 12th graders developing their decision-making skills with the help of an instructor from the Decision Education Foundation, whose motto is "Better Decisions, Better Lives."
Students watched a documentary about group of high school students trekking in Nepal with the goal of reaching a remote village and getting to know the students from the school in the village. At a critical juncture, weather, terrain, and injuries forced the group to make a big decision about moving forward to reach their goal, turning back, or waiting for rescue. Students split into groups and used a decision tree to come to their own conclusions. What they ultimately learned was that making a big decision takes time, input and information. Check out the video, "The Himalayan Decision," to see what you would decide.