Carolina Friends School has a rich history of celebrating diversity, social activism, embracing love and recognizing the inherent worth and beauty of all individuals. CFS was one of the first purposefully integrated schools in the South. The school's founding was both celebrated and resisted. Did you know the lower school was once dynamited by members of the KKK? You can learn more about the school's history and founding here.
As a school we continue to strive for greater equity in our community and the world at large. Social justice education is integrated into our curriculum throughout the year, but MLK Jr. Day provides us an opportunity to celebrate our school's mission and charge "to teach children that it is possible to change the world". This year our celebration began in the classroom when we read Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. We then went to the multi and watched several Upper School students perform The Three Questions by Jon Muth. This is a simple, yet powerful story that follows a young boy's journey to answer his three questions, "When is the best time to do things?", "Who is the most important one?" and "What is the right thing to do?"
After snack we went to the multi for a school-wide celebration where we sang with the community choir, watched a dance performance, listened to spoken word poetry and more. A powerful film was made by Selim Ahmed, an Upper School staff member, which features many of our Sky Class students.
The enriching and uplifting morning was followed by an optional afternoon of service. Since not all students could attend the afternoon of service, our class will travel to Senior Community Care Center, a low-income senior center in RTP, on Wednesday. At the senior center we will decorate bags with uplifting messages for Urban Ministries of Durham (the bags are used to pack lunches for people who visit UMD for breakfast). We will also sing 'What a Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong, one of the key figures we've learned about during our unit on the Harlem Renaissance.
After snack we went to the multi for a school-wide celebration where we sang with the community choir, watched a dance performance, listened to spoken word poetry and more. A powerful film was made by Selim Ahmed, an Upper School staff member, which features many of our Sky Class students.
The enriching and uplifting morning was followed by an optional afternoon of service. Since not all students could attend the afternoon of service, our class will travel to Senior Community Care Center, a low-income senior center in RTP, on Wednesday. At the senior center we will decorate bags with uplifting messages for Urban Ministries of Durham (the bags are used to pack lunches for people who visit UMD for breakfast). We will also sing 'What a Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong, one of the key figures we've learned about during our unit on the Harlem Renaissance.
