MLK Day at Community Day School

Instead of taking the day off, students at Community Day School took on the essential themes of Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the third straight year in a day of learning and reflection. The guiding theme for this year’s experience was “Borders.”

CDS librarian Whitney Philipps led the team of educators in planning the program.

Students were invited to write a new story — one in which, like King, to dream of overcoming divisive borders that divide people and can help create a new reality.

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The day kicked off with a morning prayer service, including a keynote address by Pittsburgh theater director Adil Mansoor, who is a founding member of Hatch Arts Collective, a performing arts group committed to including queer and trans people of color.

First-grader Sasha Svoboda and her classmates listen to King’s “I Have A Dream” speech while learning about what the civil rights leader taught us about being an “upstander.” (Photo courtesy of Community Day School)

Third-graders Benji Smuckler, left, and Gabriel Shapira work on a schoolwide art project exploring the ideas of acceptance, tolerance, and breaking down barriers to improve human understanding. (Photo courtesy of Community Day School)

Kindergarten students Lilliana Haber, left, and Ella Levy use fingerprints to paint a dove to symbolize peace. (Photo courtesy of Community Day School)

First-grader Joshua Neiss completes a project about the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo courtesy of
Community Day School)

Fifth-graders Tom Perel, left, and Alexander Velazquez attend a seminar on how political borders are drawn. (Photo courtesy of Community Day School)