Elaine Loft, Staff Writer
In these times when the world seems more divided than united, a program created at the Waynflete School aims to, “equip high school students with vital communication skills to actively participate as engaged citizens in a democracy.” On November 12, eighteen Derryfield student leaders participated in an all-day retreat led by John Holdridge and Patty Howells from the Portland, Maine independent day school. By the end of the year, the students will participate in three days of programming, including an overnight visit to Augusta, Maine, where Derryfield will be the first NH school joining Can We? Student groups from around Maine.
The core of the Can We? project takes each participant through a process that includes the following questions: Self-reflection (Who am I, what do I believe, and who or what has influenced my beliefs?); Perspective taking and empathy (Who are you, what do you believe, and who or what influenced your beliefs?); Inquiry (What matters to us? What questions can we ask to help us understand a topic, issue, or other viewpoints? What are reliable resources for information?); Creative collaboration (What understandings can we create together that are informed by our varied viewpoints? Are there actions that we can take together?)
The November 12 retreat was a focus on the process espoused by Can We? Students broke into two minute timed conversations with partners, in which they asked and answered a series of prompts. They also explored a bit about brain science, and learned techniques for listening and speaking differences.
The Derryfield cohort included: 10th graders: Deepsun Adhikari, Juliana Cataldo, Anna Fazelat, Alexandro Pierre Philippe, Nikash Ullal; 11th graders: Genesis Mendoza Alarcon, Reina Johnson, Samhitha Maradapu; and 12th graders: Audrey Barger, Safija Becirovic , Elise Cataldo, Isabella Devine, Tate Gregor (Student Leader/Facilitator), Audrey Labbe, Samuel Kellner, Ava Kosakowski, Ella LaFlamme, Isabella Mailloux, Casey Peters (Student Leader/Facilitator), and Felix Read.
