Belonging necessitates both deliberate design and continuous action. Just as architects meticulously plan and construct a building's foundation, educators, leaders, and communities must intentionally create environments where every individual feels valued and included.
Belonging thrives when it becomes a shared commitment, where individuals collectively work towards shaping a society where everyone can find their place and thrive. "Architects of Belonging" reminds us that, in schools, creating an atmosphere of acceptance and unity is a collective effort that shapes not only academic success but also personal growth and development.
Our three campuses have spent the last three weeks sharing and showing our students the blueprint of belonging at Moravian Academy on their respective campuses. At the Historic Downtown Campus, students were asked to pen how they personally plan to build a stronger school community and to then illustrate what a strong school community looks like to them. Dr. Sara Vanderbeck’s office this week was filled with piles of these beautiful blueprints and plans of belonging and as I thumbed through them I couldn’t help but be filled with joy and hope for our collective futures.
On the Swain Campus, Megan Franzyshen, Adrianne Finley Odell and Dr. Sue Das shared their own personal stories of belonging with the Middle School students. They asked students using their renowned responsive classroom framework: “What does it mean to belong? How does it look, feel, sound?” School Counselor Helene Perrucci-Kinsman, led a dynamic and engaging lesson using Youth Voices: Locating Identity, Agency & Belonging in all Learning Spaces to use their voices to proclaim a more caring, inclusive and just school community.
The Merle-Smith Campus students and faculty journeyed to Camp Canadensis last Friday to fortify a strong structure of belonging through ropes courses, cooking, art, climbing walls, s'mores, fireside chats and so much more. Witnessing our entire upper school using the majestic gift of nature as their backdrop to design connection, unity and deepening interpersonal relationships is a practice I hope we always keep! I can’t wait to ask students how belonging fits into our relationship with nature and basking in the brilliance of their responses.
I have been inspired each week as I travel from campus to campus to steward the work of belonging. Our belonging blueprints are strong, designs are being prepared and my own unwavering commitment to belonging as a psychological need for student flourishing fortified. There is so much more ahead as we continue to scaffold belonging into our 23-24 academic year but if this is just the beginning, I can bet our design plans will materialize a cathedral of belonging!