One of the measures of the strength of a school community is the extent to which it lives out its values.

Earlier this week, I witnessed two powerful demonstrations of Seven Hills’ commitment in this area. In a Lower School assembly program at Lotspeich, a group of fifth grade student leaders, members of the Changemakers Club, gave a thoughtful presentation about respect, one of our seven school values. They asked the assembled students to define respect, a concept which, as it turns out, is rather difficult to put into words. Then they elicited numerous examples of how students can show respect: for each other, for their teachers and parents, for their school community, and for the planet.  

They posited several scenarios and asked the younger students to describe behaviors that would or would not demonstrate respect in that situation. Finally, they showed a lively animated video that illustrated respectful behaviors in various situations. 

In a similar vein, last Friday Doherty’s Unit III students put together an assembly presentation about their annual trip to Glen Helen as a way of illustrating the meaning of responsibility, another school value. They focused on how, during their trip, they fulfilled their responsibilities: to each other, to the whole group, to the school community, and to the environment.   

As I dip into classrooms all over our campuses, I frequently hear lively discussions about these kinds of ethical issues. Sometimes they are part of guidance classes or service learning experiences. Sometimes they are embedded in discussions of literary texts or historical phenomena or scientific discoveries. Sometimes they are at the heart of a disciplinary conversation, where students are encouraged to explore the impact of their own behavior on the lives of other people.   

In a community that truly lives its values, these kinds of discussions are on-going; they are woven into the fabric of daily life, and students have frequent opportunities to explore their values and to reflect on their conduct.

At its best, this is not merely a matter of adults defining what is right and what is wrong; it involves the students themselves exploring and clarifying the school’s values and transmitting them to the younger students. That is how a true community is built.