On Monday, February 22, poet, speaker, and activist Greg Corbin will come to Greene Street Friends to lead two interactive poetry workshops on justice. Greg is the director of the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM). To read more about Greg, click here. Greg’s presentation will include a mixture of lecture, student engagement, and spoken word and it will address issues like feeling safe and bullying. Greg will present first to the middle school from 8:30 am to 9:00 am and then to the Lower School from 9:15 - 9:45 am. The presentation for each age group will be different. Greg’s visit to campus has been funded by a generous grant from the Friends Council on Education to support explorations of race and equality throughout the 2015-2016 school year.

Middle School Dean of Students Kiri Harris writes:

“The $2,000 grant GSFS received from Friends Council on Education has been put to excellent use, and its benefits felt widely. Eighth graders developed their interviewing and videography skills in a ‘Truth on Equality’ booth at the fall fair and during the MLK Day of Service. The concept was based on a traveling installation by artist Hank Willis Thomas called The Truth Booth. With fine quality video camera and sound equipment in hand (thanks to the grant), these eighth graders captured voices of many students, alumni and families sharing their truths about equality. The eighth grade will next try their hand at documentary film-making using this footage, and hopefully share the resulting films with an audience in and outside of school. 

Also at MLK Day of Service, many enjoyed using special paint and materials (purchased by the grant) to match their own skin color and create self-portraits. Those who felt less artistically inclined stood back in awe and appreciation of some truly amazing likenesses.

This grant will also add greater diversity to our classroom and school libraries. Middle school students are generating a list of books to acquire that center on characters from non-mainstream groups in terms of race, gender and sexuality. The process of thinking about this need and searching for books is a valuable one in itself for students. The choices they make will mean a lot to many students in the years to come.”

Third grade teacher Erica Snowden and Kiri Harris were instrumental in securing the grant last year and they have been organizing and leading a variety of activities in support of our all-school theme of equality this year.