We have given considerable attention over the past few weeks to interviewing candidates for the position of high school principal. This is an important moment for the school. As a component of this process, there is a group of 10 students who have joined the faculty search committee for a portion of the interview. Their participation in this process has been exemplary—thoughtful, honest and smart. I have been quite moved by their intelligent contributions and their deep feelings about LREI. I am proud of them and have learned a great deal from them. These students have shared their opinions and spoken honestly about their experiences at LREI, without fear or reticence. One of the topics the students investigate with the candidates, the one which may be of greatest importance to them, is how each would make room for student voice in the high school.
As you know, just before Winter Break a large number of high school students walked out of school in response to, as a students told me the other day, the decision by two grand juries not to indict the police officers involved in the shootings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Carefully framed. The conversation that followed the walkout was open and honest, or so it seemed. I suspect that there were a number of students who did not feel comfortable expressing themselves completely. I hope that as we continue to discuss these issues and their impact on our community that more and more students will feel comfortable speaking out and will push themselves to do so. As with the students who are involved in interviewing, if student voice is important to other high school students then not feeling able to discuss this essential moment in this school year is a true loss.
Practicing the exercise of free speech is central to how we view our role in preparing your children for their participation in our democratic society, about which I wrote two weeks ago. Having conversations with adults and classmates about “speaking up,” learning about the power of words and deeds, and learning to gage your rhetoric—how far is too far—there are few lessons more important and no skill better acquired through learning by doing. The power of free speech must be felt to be understood. The deeper the understanding the more likely it is to lead to a desire to speak out when necessary, to do so responsibly and to protect this right for all. The tragic events in Paris and serious questions about free speech that followed, about restricting it, about respect and inclusion, about how far is too far to push the boundaries must be part of our conversation in school as I hope they are in your home. These terrible events and the questions they raise are a reminder that we must provide opportunities for students, of all ages, to have a voice and we must ensure that all have a chance to feel the power of self-expression if we are to foster generations of adults who value, honor, and leverage their right to speak freely.