The Middle Division (MD) decided in conjunction with the Office for Identity, Culture, and Institutional Equity to celebrate Unity Week with special lessons designed by each department, MD Dean of Faculty Eva Abbamonte said.

Abbamonte led her seventh-grade history class through a lesson on Ida B. Wells, a Black female journalist. The class discussed Ida’s campaign against lynching during the twentieth century. “We learned that the federal anti-lynching law that she proposed was not passed until last year by our Congress and was signed into law by President Biden,” Abbamonte said.

William Pietrzak (7) said the week’s integration with the curriculum was both practical and inspiring. “You can understand connections between stuff we’re doing in classes and Unity Week themes.” 

During Unity Week, Robbie Lipsky (8) was able to find connections with the school’s core values. Lipsky also noticed similarities to the recently held MD Service Learning Week. “I recently put together bags of activities for kids in hospitals in our communities,” he said. “That seems similar to Unity Week because, in both, we are trying to help our community and learn more about those around us.”

Today, EJ Landy (7) and her French class will write a letter to someone who they feel has changed the world for the better. Students in her class chose a variety of celebrities and activists, she said. Landy will be writing to Harry Styles, as he was the first man to wear a dress on the cover of Vogue, she said. “I find that very inspiring.”

Landy’s main takeaway from this activity is that everyone has the opportunity to change the world, even in some small way. “Even simply wearing a dress created such a big movement and inspired so many people.”

Pietrzak hopes that the MD will continue the tradition of Unity Week as it exposes students to new concepts that they might never have otherwise encountered in their classes, he said. “It’s a good way to build community and help one another learn about important values.”