Speak Out at NHS

Today I had the privilege of attending a Speak Out Assembly at Needham High School. This is an annual event centered around the wellness program Own Your Peace. The entire school assembles in the gymnasium where a handful of students share personal stories, struggles and resolutions that they've experienced and overcome. The stories today were incredibly raw, honest and vulnerable. I'm struck at how courageous and strong these young individuals are to face their peers, share their weaknesses and rally around their strengths. The student body was engaged, supportive and it is clear that connections were made. It was an extremely moving event to top off the already meaningful experience of working with these young artists on their installation projects.

During that past 6 weeks I've been working with the art instructor, Wendy Hodge, and her two senior level art classes on the subject of creating interactive collaborative installation art. This project is made possible with a grant from Needham Education Foundation and you can read more about it here.

Both The Cave and The Bridge show much progress from my last visit two weeks ago. Students, staff and teachers have been actively Making Their Mark and adding thoughts to strips of fabric before attaching to each of the two installations.

The installations will be up until April 1. The Cave will be re-installed elsewhere in the building and The Bridge will be disassembled and sewn into a quilt for future classes to add their own pieces to it.