Two years ago, before the midterm elections, Waynflete School (ME) staff, administrators, and leaders asked: Can we harness the power of the political storm to energize our students’ learning?
As part of the “Can We?” Project—which Waynflete piloted in the spring of 2018—the school reached out to six public high schools to recruit students from a broad range of communities in southern Maine. Teacher liaisons from each school including Waynflete identified a total of 29 students with diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and political viewpoints to attend a three-day retreat. There, guided by experienced facilitators hired by Waynflete, students identified political topics of common interest—racial inequality, gun safety, drug laws, and education policy. Rather than simply finding common ground amid their disparate viewpoints, students used dialogue to create new and transcendent common understandings and solutions to problems informed by their differences. They presented their ideas to gubernatorial candidates in May 2018, on the eve of the primaries, at Westbrook Performing Arts Center in Maine.
To continue the conversation on a national scale in advance of the 2020 election, Waynflete hosted a “Can We?” Project retreat for educators in July 2019, attended by teams from six other independent schools across the country—Catlin Gabel School (OR), Francis W. Parker School (IL), Georgetown Day School (DC), Providence Day School (NC), Waterford School (UT), and West Nottingham Academy (MD).
Learn more about the “Can We?” Project and related initiatives here.
Students participating in a three-day retreat hosted by Waynflete in July 2019.
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