More changes to the Schedule : Students are Sleeping too late

By Ingrid Yeung ‘23

St. Mark’s has always been a fond advocate for a balanced schedule of academic, athletic, and extracurricular activities. With growing emphasis on students’ well-being, St. Mark’s strives annually to improve the schedule for better student experiences. Recently, the school conducted a survey asking students about their overall energy level and sleeping time on an average school day, and the result was shocking. It is shown that the average student here goes to sleep around midnight and gets an average of six and a half or seven hours of sleep per night. In correlation with this sleeping data is the overall energy level of students. The trend shows that students have low energy levels throughout the day. As a result of this data, the school decided there was a need for change in the schedule. Students are going to sleep too early, which directly lowers their energy levels. Therefore, the school is looking forward to changing the schedule to better student experience in the following weeks by adding one more color block at night, extending study hall hours, and starting school earlier each day. 

Right now, the regular St. Mark’s school day ends at 3:05 PM on weekdays, with an exception on Wednesday with an early end due to athletic competitions. Students have no academic obligations after their last commitment and have excessive free time outside of athletic practices. Students often do not make good use of their time, spending it on leisure activities, which in turn causes their fatigue. Therefore, after careful discussions among the deans, the school’s administration has decided to add another color block, the Pink block, to our regular schedule. Pink Block will run from 6:00 to 7:20 PM, with the length of our standard long block. Not an addition to class, the Pink Block is an additional supplement block for the main courses: English and Math. Pink Block will meet four times a week, except for Wednesday, with two blocks of English and two blocks of math. With this new addition to the schedule, the students get a more fulfilling St. Mark’s academic experience. In addition to the new Pink Block, SM will extend study hall hours to enhance student performance. The standard study hall time runs from 7:30 PM- 9:30 PM, which is barely enough for students to finish homework. Extending study hall hours into 10:30 PM, the school hopes to allow students to develop their academic interests and use the time efficiently for extra studying. Those changes all increase students' time dedicated to academics, but the one last change that SM will make will substantially decrease the number of sleep students get and enhance their performance at school. Instead of starting school at 8:00 AM, the first color block of the day will begin punctually at 7:30 AM. The 30 minutes less sleep does not seem like much, but it can determine the student's overall energy level.  Since students are sleeping way too early, causing fatigue, the school’s hopes that adjusting the schedule will create a better student experience. 

St. Mark’s Moving Toward a Fully Self-Directed Education

By Emma Lu ‘24

As part of a growing initiative among schools nationally,  St. Mark’s School has finally reached consensus on the subject of self-directed learning. Following many faculty meetings, the school has decided that beginning in Fall of 2022, St. Mark’s will no longer hold any synchronous classes and will switch to a fully self-guided model of learning. 

What brought upon this sudden change in philosophy? In keeping with its mission statement, a core philosophy of St. Mark’s is to develop students’ particular abilities through “inspiring their … curiosity and kindling their passion for discovery.” Despite efforts, research and large scale surveys show that students value their actual learning less and less, instead solely prioritizing grades and GPAs. This strict focus on an often not fully representative number for college applications only diminishes what the period of high school is meant to be; a formative four year period of growth for adolescents to find themselves in context to the greater world.

The systems of education in most schools are insufficient at providing this experience to our youth. This is unsurprising, given that the current systems were designed in a time where high school was often the highest level of education a person would receive and was merely meant to prepare young people for obedience in the standardized workplaces. Hence, why independent schools such as St. Mark’s exists; parents and their children wish for a well rounded education that is able to support and nurture the youth’s unique personhood for a world that increasingly demands creativity and critical thinking. Existing programs such as the school's extensive collection of student lead groups, Lions Roam, and more are meant to facilitate this, and a fully self-guided education is just the next step in response to changing demands in a shifting world. 

As self-directed.org explains, “self-directed education necessarily leads different individuals along different paths, though the paths may often overlap, as each person’s interests and goals in life are in some ways unique and in some ways shared by others.” 

Through comprehensive discussion with all faculty, board members, and the wider community, St. Mark’s has decided to fully embrace this approach. Beginning fall of 2022, no in person nor online classes would be provided by the school. No academic or scheduled blocks of any kind would exist, which would give students much needed flexibility and encourage independence. In place would be a wide catalog of lectures, online discussion boards, and other resources curated and created by our talented faculty, for each and every course. With no required assignments, students are given the opportunity to engage as much as they want on the subjects that interest them, at whatever level they wish. Should students deem that more support is required, all faculty would still be available to meet with students during the now open academic day. 

Although the changes are seemingly radical, St. Mark’s has already experimented with various self-guided programs or units in classes, with highly positive results. In these small scale tests, reports on engagement with material have increased significantly, as have results, as indicated by increased performance in various assessments.  Furthermore, student contentment and feelings of accomplishment with work completed greatly increased. 

More concrete information would be released in the oncoming weeks regarding incoming changes as the school enters another period in its long history. 

New Initiatives to Diversify Faculty at St. Mark’s

By Ingrid Yeung ‘23

As expressed in St. Mark’s diversity statement, our school strives to reflect the increasingly diverse world by providing students with an exceptional education in a community of students, faculty, and staff representing different racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.  St. Mark’s seeks to promote awareness around cultural differences and encourage students and faculty to celebrate diversity and their experiences. Through Community and Equity affairs, St. Mark’s strives to build a community where students can have safe spaces to have honest conversations and where everyone works together to help the school move closer to being an antiracist school. In the 2021-22 school year, St. mark’s C&E efforts have included developing an Antiracist Strategic Planning Task Force, providing antiracism training to faculty, and continuing support to the Pathways program. As we move closer to the end of the year, St. Mark’s has two new initiatives for next year intended specifically for diversifying the faculty population: the new Associate Dean of Faculty for Equity and Inclusion and the Penn Fellows Program. 

The new Associate Dean of Faculty for Equity and Inclusion position is created to “support the work of the Assistant Head of School/Dean of Faculty in recruiting, hiring, and retaining a diverse and talented faculty” (Job Description). In previous years, St. Mark’s C&E work has focused mainly on student life, but with this new administrative position, the school can further support our BIPOC faculty to thrive at St. Mark’s as it works to intentionally diversify the faculty. Working closely with other Deans, the Associate Dean will identify and establish practice standards of inclusion for adults at St.Mark’s while providing professional development for faculty. This position aims to approach the process of recruiting faculty and training through an antiracist lens. With the ambitious goal of diversifying the faculty population and supporting BIPOC faculty comes numerous responsibilities. The Associate Dean is expected to facilitate faculty and staff C&E professional development through the promotion of on-campus and off-campus professional development in areas of C&E and respond to Bias Incident Reports involving faculty. Continuing the current C&E initiatives and programs, the Associate Dean will also assist the evolution of St. Mark’s educational programs through collaboration with other Deans and faculty, actively providing resources to BIPOC faculty. With this new position specifically dedicated to furthering the equity work at St. Mark’s for faculty and staff, the school strives to truly embody its diversity statements and antiracism initiatives.  

In addition to the new administrative role, the initiation of the Penn Fellows program also seeks to bring new perspectives to our faculty body. The Penn Fellows program is an Independent School Teaching Residency master’s program that allows early career teachers to teach while receiving their master’s degrees. It is a combination of on-site sessions and online classes that facilitate the students’ future careers as educators. During the two years of residency, the Penn Fellows will teach at a reduced load while continuing their school requirements. The Fellows can also get involved with the school’s residential life program, extracurricular activities, advising, and coaching. This program is geared towards novice teachers with less than two years of experience who are interested in the independent school context. Being a partner boarding school in this program, St. Mark’s will welcome two Penn Fellows in the next academic year. Recently, several potential candidates have already visited campus and got to learn more about St. Mark’s. Our school also set up Student Panel and mock teaching sessions to help both St. Mark’s and the candidate decide whether it is a good fit for both. Next year, having this program will allow St. Mark’s to diversify the faculty on campus further. It also provides a platform for students interested in becoming teachers in independent schools. 

As St. Mark’s launched the new initiatives dedicated to promoting C&E work among the faculty and staff population, it is also pushing the school into a new phase of equity affairs. By paying more attention to supporting the BIPOC faculty and hiring more faculty of color, St. Mark’s creates a more inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. There have been many situations this year where tough conversations needed to be held, and some students stills struggle to find a safe space to share their experiences and opinions. With the new Associate Dean of Faculty for Equity and Inclusion, the school will create a safer environment for students through additional equity training for teachers and increasing faculty diversity to match the already highly diverse student population. St. Mark’s is gradually becoming an antiracist school. 

Umoja: Highlights

Karry Kim ‘25

Umoja, meaning ‘unity’ in Swahili, is an annual celebration of unity and inclusion of all St. Mark’s students. Each year students from different affinity groups perform skits, sing songs  dance and read poetry that evokes their cultural heritage. Unlike the previous years, this year’s Umoja was held in virtually various locations due to the pandemic. While the 4th formers and the 6th formers watched the performance in the PFAC in person, the rest of the forms watched a livestream of the event in locations such as the Lower Center, CPR, and the Lion’s Den. 

The event started off with the reading of an Arabic poem, “On This Land” by Mahmound Darwish (Aidan Khamis ‘22). This poem reads (translated version):

We have on this land that which makes life worth living

We have on this land all of that which makes life worth living

April’s hesitation

The aroma of bread at dawn

A woman’s beseeching of men

The writings of Aeschylus

Love’s beginning

Moss on a stone

Mothers standing on a flute’s thread

And the invader’s fear of memories

We have on this land that which makes life worth living

September’s end

A woman leaving ‘forty’ behind

with all of her apricots

The hour of sunlight in prison

A cloud reflecting a swarm of creatures

A people’s applause for those who face their own erasure with a smile

And the tyrant’s fear of songs.

We have on this land all of that which makes life worth living

On this land

The lady of our land

The mother of all beginnings

And the mother of all ends

She was called Palestine

Her name later became Palestine

My lady….

Because you are my lady

I have all of that which makes life worth living. (Darwish, M. (1976). On this land: Poem.) 

Although less well-known in the United States, Mahmound Darwish is a significant figure in Palestinian culture, widely accepted as the Palestinian national poet. Born in Al-Birwa in 1941, 7 years before the once Palestinian village became occupied and destroyed by the Isreali army, Darwish had to fleed to Lebanon, leaving his hometown at a young age. As he started his poetry, he was labeled a “resistance poet” because of his poems about the suffering of Palestinian refugees that he had recited in poem festivals. Like Darwish’s other poems, “On This Land” also talks about the beauty of the Palestinian land and its connection to its people. 

This poem also holds special meaning to Aidan and his family, 

“From “the aroma of bread at dawn to…a cloud reflecting a swarm of creatures” Palestine gives us life. Regardless of our situation in exile or occupation, Palestine is still our land that will forever give us life. Because Palestine gives us life, it holds a special place in our mind, in our identities. Regardless of me not stepping foot in Palestine, it is still my home. It represents who I am, and also what I have lost. To the Palestinian people, the beauty of Palestine, our home is all that makes life worth living” (Aidan Khamis ‘22). 

Following the recitation of “On This Land”, the ASA performed an upbeat Kpop dance to the song “Savage” by Aespa, bringing the event a ton of energy and spirit.  ASA had another performance as well with students sharing a Chinese heritage sing a Chinese pop song, “Dao Xiang (Rice Field)” by Jay Chou. The song shares a heartwarming message that when people face failure or discontent they can always go back home and recharge. “Dao Xiang” illustrates the image of a rural village with rice fields, where a little boy shares the story of his childhood. The song ends with the lyrics, “Treasure everything even if you have nothing,” giving hope to those who feel exhausted by their lives away from their hometowns. 

Other groups presented videos. Los Leones highlighted many of the Latinx students of St. Mark’s who shared important features of  their culture and traditions. Students from BLU ( Black/Latinio Union) explained the rich diversity within the black community by explaining different ancestral homes of each of the black St. Mark’s students. Following the video, BLU also performed a dance, with the genre of mix of African, Jamaican, and Hip Hop dances to the song “Toast” by Koffee. An interesting dance move they performed was called Gwara Gwara, a dance move made by an African DJ, DJ Bongz, and later made viral by the singer Rihanna. 

The acapella group, Royal Blues performed the song, “Show Me Love” by Hundred Waters, boosting positive energy in the event. 

Although the event was not held in the in-person unity of the whole school, the variety of performances made it possible for the school to successfully come together to celebrate the unity and inclusion of different cultures that exist among the people of St. Mark’s.

Preparations for the 2022 Asian-American Footsteps Conference (AAFC)

By Madison Hoang ‘23

“I do think that [being selected to host the AAFC this year] is a great milestone for us [St. Mark’s], because it is a recognition of the level of engagement and activism on behalf of our Asian student population,” says Ms. Zhu - who, along with Ms. Yang and Mr. Chen - are the three faculty members leading the charge for the Asian-American Footsteps Conference (AAFC), which will be hosted by St. Mark’s this 2021-2022 school year. This officially makes St. Mark’s the 10th school to ever host the conference, another exciting milestone for Ms. Zhu herself and for the rest of the AAFC planning committee. 

The AAFC was first established in 2011 by Aya Murata, an advisor to students at Phillips Academy Andover, who saw the lack of opportunities that were available for Asian and Asian-American students to discuss and explore their racial and ethnic identities. Out of this need to create a safe and empowering space for all Asian and Asian-American students, the AAFC was born, combining collaborative and educational experiences to help students explore, affirm, and embrace their racial and ethnic identities. Annually, the conference draws in hundreds of Asian and Asian-American students and faculty from preparatory schools across New England; since then, the participation rate has only grown, demonstrating the increasing importance of the AAFC in helping Asian and Asian-American young adults better understand and navigate their identities, not only in the immediate backdrop of their diverse prep-school environments, but also in the greater context of the increasingly-diverse United States environment that encapsulates them.

This year, the AAFC will be held virtually on April 24th. Following the previous years’ structures, the conference will be held over the course of one day; It will first feature a keynote presentation by a guest speaker, followed by 2-3 rounds of student and faculty-led workshops, as well as a small-group collaborative and discussion-based period in between. Each year, keynote speakers are picked based on outstanding commitment to Asian and Asian-American representation in their fields, as well as outstanding achievements through their work. While the Keynote speaker is yet to be announced, the hope is that his or her presentation will set a strong and empowering tone for the rest of the conference. Plans for the workshops are also in progress; early February, the AAFC committee has invited students and faculty members from all participating schools to propose and run workshops following the Keynote presentation. The Keynote speech and workshops will fall under the overarching theme of “Unmuting and Uniting,” which the committee hopes will resonate throughout the course of the entire conference, encouraging students to finally make their voices heard and empower them to strongly affirm their racial and ethnic identities. 

When asked about the challenges facing the planning process so far, Ms. Zhu shares, “I would have to say that our biggest challenge has been shifting from hosting the conference in-person to hosting it virtually.” While the conference was initially intended to be hosted in-person at St. Mark’s, it will now be moved to a virtual platform due to updated COVID-19 restrictions. For such a significant change to take place so late in the planning process, the AAFC committee has been forced to adapt by reworking the entire theme of the conference itself, and by shifting their focus towards more technical matters. In addition, worrying concerns linger: Will the shift to a virtual-based conference dampen students’ engagement? How will this affect student turnout? How do we prevent participants from feeling “Zoomed-out” during the conference? However, despite these challenges, Ms. Zhu is immensely proud of the work that the AAFC committee has done so far; She praises the committee’s members’ flexibility and strong work ethic during a time of such monumental alteration to the planning process. 

Therefore, Ms. Zhu is confident that St. Mark’s will be able to host a fantastic AAFC this year, and that the school will be able to deliver a meaningful and empowering experience for all Asian and Asian-American students across the participating New England prep-school community. She encourages any and all St. Markers, who identify as either Asian or Asian-American, to attend the AAFC this year. Despite falling short of initial expectations (that it will be in-person at St. Mark’s), the virtual-based AAFC will still provide students a “great opportunity” for self-education and self-empowerment, about what it means to be Asian. Especially following a pandemic-era wave of increased discrimination and violence against Asians and Asian-Americans in the US, the need for Asians to “unmute” their voices and “unite” at the AAFC is undoubtedly more important than ever before. 

Competition of the Robots

By Julie He ‘23

“Ask not what your robot can do for you, ask what you can do for your robot.”- Mr Palmer

As winter sports come to an end, the St. Mark’s Robotics Team (FIRST 3566/Gone Fishin’) is also wrapping up with its grand finale- a competition. Team 3566 has been a prominent part of St. Mark’s STEM  program since its inception. Robotics provides students the opportunity to work in the STEM field in multiple aspects including building, engineering, and coding. However, robotics requires deep commitment, replacing winter sports and Saturday classes. The robotics team, like other sports, have been working diligently towards a competition at the end of the season. The competition is six weeks long and the SM team will be attending for two weekends with the hope of qualifying for New Englands. Every team at the match will build a robot from scratch that must encounter identical obstacles. This year, challenges include shooting balls into a hoop and climbing monkey bars. The robot that best completes the tasks wins. 

Team Gone Fishin’ this year is composed of a large and talented group of 39 students and 4 teachers. There are also many supportive alumni mentors such as Jason Chen ‘21 who drops by regularly to advise the students. Although a large crew, there are different jobs for every member that caters to their interests. Under the leadership of Carl Guo ‘22, the students split up into groups to work on different components of the robot. The coding team is responsible for coding the robot and making sure it completes the tasks given. Another technology-based team is the CAD team which 3D-prints components that go towards building the robot. CAD (computer-aided design) is a computer-based software that helps users digitally create 3D models. As there are many different parts of the robot, the building team is further split into 4 different groups; field elements, climbing, shooting, and intake. In the lower center, the field elements team has been building a replica of the hoop for the robot to practice on. The climbing team is building the components of the robot that will be climbing monkey bars and the shooting team will build the parts that shoot balls into the hoop. The intake team is responsible for the mechanics that pick up the balls. Finally, the external affairs team, which is often overlooked but crucial, is responsible for the paperwork of robotics. They submit award nominations and seek sponsors. Some past sponsors have been Yamafuji and Bose! With all the teams working hard the past season, everyone is looking forward to seeing their parts coming together for the competition. 

Students on the team have been very eager for the competition, especially after 2 years of quarantine. Reina Wang ‘22, one of the few returning members, is excited for the competition: “I am very looking forward to going back to an in person competition event since 2020. We are very excited to see how our robot performs in the games and hopefully we will all enjoy the experience.” Other members such as Andrew Hung 22’ share similar sentiments:  “I look forward to the culmination of all the team's work coming together and seeing what other teams have to offer. The competition allows the team to really come together and bond, as well as for newer students, understand our competition and the work that they will have to do in the coming years to get even better at FIRST.” 

Although not everyone may be able to attend the competition due to Covid restrictions, the team is still very excited to put out what they have and showcase their weeks of hard work. The practices are filled with lots of energy and excitement, but also stress. With only a few weeks left to prepare, robotics students are working late nights on weekends to make sure they are ready for the big day. With this season’s good preparation and superb leaders, team 3566 is ready to encounter the competition. 

Gray Colloquium: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Seals

Yoonjeong Yang’ 24

Dr. Lungi Bundone, an expert on Mediterranean monk seal conservation, was a guest speaker for the 2nd annual Gray Colloquium, which was held on December 2. In his Gray Colloquium presentation, titled “Mediterranean Monk Seal Conservation and Monitoring,” Dr. Bundone discussed the obstacles that his Archipelagos team encountered while gathering and analyzing data. In order to monitor and conserve the Mediterranean monk seal, the team developed the first systemic photo identification catalog in Greece. Dr. Bundone’s emphasis on the intersection between science, sustainability, and art has brought new insights to the Gray Colloquium theme of 2021-2022: “Democracy in the 21st Century”.

Dr. Bundone was born in Sardinia, Italy and later moved to Venice, where he earned a Ph.D. in environmental science from the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice. Dr. Bundone is passionate about interacting with and educating the public about science, and he has organized workshops at international conferences over the past seven years. Bundone’s dissertation focused on an evaluation and conservation plan for the critically endangered monk seals in the central Mediterranean. To further his work with the monk seals, Dr. Bundone, who is affiliated with a university as a consultant and anchor, is creating a digital catalog of each individual seal found at various sites, including coastal Albania and the islands around Kefalonia, Greece. He is the founder and president of Archipelagos – ambiente e sviluppo, Italia, an organization dedicated to preserving coastal habitats and partnering with different organizations to achieve a sustainable future. 

Dr. Bundone spoke to those in attendance at the Putnam Family Arts Center's Class of '45 Hall about how his Archipelagos team created a digital catalog of photographs to identify monk seals by deploying cameras along the coasts of Italy, Albania, and the Greek islands in the Ionian seas. In order to more effectively cover as much of the region as possible, the team installed 15 different marine caves, each equipped with infrared cameras, at various locations in the Central Ionian Sea where Mediterranean monk seals rest and give birth. He noted that the team has taken great care not to interact with or disturb the monk seals and that the flasks of the cameras were not visible to the naked eye. Since 2018, the Archipelagos team has captured about 300,000 photographs with the cameras. Additionally, during his presentation, Dr. Bundone even taught St. Markers how to identify the Mediterranean monk seals based on their size and proportions, scars, and the coloring of their backs and bellies. When he presented several images captured by the cave cameras, the students did their best to guess the age and sex of the seals.

In fact, Dr. Bundone has been collaborating with students from Barbara Putnam’s studio classes for over three years. With the help of Dr. Bundone, the students have conducted extensive research and have participated in insightful discussions about the threats to the Mediterranean monk seal’s survival and current conservation efforts, eventually incorporating their research on monk seals into paintings that Ms. Barbara Putnam presented at the World Marine Mammal Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Their impressive artwork, along with educational posters like “Mediterranean Monk Seal Habitat Use in the Central Ionian, Greece,” is on display in Taft. 

The goal of this collaboration has been to fuse science and art in order to communicate critical messages about endangered marine animals to the public. By highlighting the intersection between science and art, this project is pertinent to the theme of “Democracy in the 21st Century.” Democracy depends on science for effectively addressing public problems; art serves as a vehicle to convey diverse perspectives to the audience, fostering the empathy required for democracy. In the case of this project, St. Mark’s students have conducted scientific research and created paintings to address the issue of critically endangered marine mammals, and consequently, their exhibited works have allowed the St. Mark’s community to gain awareness and empathy for the subject.

Dr. Bundone’s insightful presentation was well-received by the St. Mark’s audience. This year’s Gray Colloquium was successful, thanks to the efforts of the hard-working staff and Ms. Sarah McCann, who has worked as a Gray Colloquium Coordinator. The next presentation in the Gray Colloquium will take place on Thursday, January 27th, in the Putnam Family Arts Center’s Class of 1945 hall. The visiting speaker will be Shayla Lawson, an American poet and writer at Amherst College.

You can read more about the upcoming Gray Colloquium speakers here: https://www.stmarksschool.org/academics/signature-programming/gray-colloquium/gray-colloquium-details 

Takeout Boxes: New Option for Sustainability at St. Mark’s

By Suha Choi ‘22

It should be no surprise to hear that COVID has brought many changes to policies at St. Mark’s. In fact, you must have heard it so many times that it’s surprising to hear someone still say it now. But that’s not where our conversation should stop. Among the many changes and trials that our community has endured in the past two years, we can also work to find compelling policies to stick to even after the pandemic ends. One of these new silver linings to COVID policies includes the takeout boxes at the dining hall. Since the week after our return from winter break, these boxes have been present, providing different options for students to eat and manage their safety. These boxes are not only COVID-safe. They can become our community’s next step towards sustainability and responsibility. 

Only a couple of months ago, Ms. Lohwater, a faculty leader for sustainability group S4S, made a school meeting announcement about the concerning amount of food waste spotted at the dining hall. Takeout boxes are a great way to diminish food waste. For those who have small food portions, but get hungry easily, it is very comforting to know that they can eat throughout the evening hours if they feel hungry without forcing in a large amount of food at once. The best part of takeout boxes is that food will be available even after dining hall hours. This is a perfect option for students who are busy during lunch or dinner. Whether they had meetings during lunch hours, or evening practice, or simply weren’t feeling hungry at those times, takeout boxes can provide flexibility for students and create a sense of calm in an otherwise busy and stressful eating schedule. Students no longer have to rush out of the dining hall midway through, saying goodbye to half of their food. This will naturally diminish a lot of food waste at St. Mark’s, that is often caused by how busy St. Markers are.

A concern that most often arises from the post-COVID takeout dining option is that students might no longer go to the dining hall. Close interactions with friends from a day-to-day basis are an integral part of the St. Mark’s community, and there is no need for this to be dismissed. There is a rather simple solution: instead of plastic utensils and paper boxes, we can encourage students to bring their own plates and sustainable food containers. This allows St. Markers to engage in sustainability actively. Further, it’s much easier said than done to clean your utensils after every meal and carry them around your dorms. So naturally, even if this option is available, this won’t bring the end of dining hall interactions. Besides, students are having a more real young adult experience, navigating through different options, and understanding the responsibility behind choices even as simple as dining options. This is also a very simple yet clever way to appreciate the often-overlooked work of our very hard-working Flik staff members.

We’ve come to a point where we know we can do more than survive through this pandemic. Through trial and error, we look for new options that this unprecedented time has unfolded for us. 

The Haiti Partnership: Fundraising Ethically and Sustainably for Haiti

By Madison Hoang ‘23 & Julie He ‘23

Ste.  Marguerite Episcopal School in Haiti

Nestled within the tropical mainland of Southern Haiti is a small village named Latournelle, where the Episcopal school of Ste. Marguerite is situated. Ste. Marguerite currently enrolls approximately 130 students, from kindergarten to eighth grade, and employs 16 teachers. Serving as the direct link between the two Episcopal schools, Ste. Marguerite and St. Mark’s, is The Haiti Partnership: a student and faculty run campus organization that aims to support the students of its partner school, as well as the inhabitants of Haiti, through a variety of on campus projects and activities. Established through the Episcopal Churches Haiti Partnership, St. Mark’s began its partnership with Ste. Marguerite in 2011.  The Haiti Partnership has experienced tremendous success, not only through the Partnership’s fundraising and awareness-building efforts, but also through the support and commitment of faculty, staff and students throughout the school body. The Haiti Partnership has been guided and supported by Ms. Morgan, Reverend Solter and formerly by Ms. McColloch and Dr. Bonhomme, along with approximately 30 committed students.

Unlike most conventional non-profit organizations, The Haiti Partnership is not just dedicated to fundraising efforts and charity. The Partnership is also committed to building an ethical and sustainable partnership with Ste. Marguerite, as well as spreading public awareness about the issues of Haiti. Generally defined, an “ethical partnership” means that a non-profit’s communications with the public, as well as to its beneficiaries, must be transparent, honest, and direct. Following this principle, The Haiti Partnership prides itself on its ability to practice conscientiously and communicate openly with its Haitian beneficiaries, as well as the St. Mark’s community. In addition, the partnership shared with Haiti is sustainable, which ensures that Ste. Marguerite and the Haitian beneficiaries be able to prosper long-term, even without the continued aid of The Haiti Partnership.

Recently, the Partnership has moved closer to this goal by innovating a “loan program” that awards Haitian women with small grants. Though small, these grants can become tremendously impactful; they allow the women to purchase raw materials, which are then turned into hand-made goods that can be sold at markets. By turning a profit on their products, the women are able to effectively pay off their grants, and eventually create sustainable, long-term income for themselves. In addition to supporting Haiti, The Haiti Partnership also aims to impact the St. Mark’s community by spreading awareness about the injustices and difficulties experienced by the country. While this serves the direct purpose of stimulating community involvement with the Partnership’s humanitarian efforts for Haiti, it also encourages St. Markers’ to employ stronger cultural awareness of Haiti and engage in increased cultural exchange with St. Marks’ partner school, Ste. Marguerite. 

In the past, as well as this year, The Haiti Partnership has successfully raised funds and awareness for Haiti by organizing and hosting a variety of on-campus activities, special occasions, and shows. Smaller-scale projects have included a Saturday class program teaching students Creole (the national language of Haiti), a Haitian Independence Day Fair educating the community on Haitian history and culture, Haiti Partnership-run bake sales at various music and arts showcases and a conversation with Life Skills Haiti guest speaker, Jean Pillard, who shared insightful information about the importance of Haiti’s continued reconstruction.

The Haiti Partnership is perhaps most well-known for three events that are hosted annually on-campus and involve a large proportion of the St. Mark’s community: ‘Play for Haiti’ Day, which raises funds by selling specialized ‘Haiti’ t-shirts and baked goods to the community; service learning trips to Haiti to encourage cross-cultural exchanges between St. Markers and the students of Ste. Marguerite; and the ‘rice and beans’ lunch, which cuts down on lunchtime food costs in order to donate the school’s savings for that day to Haiti. Regardless of their relative scales, these initiatives have truly allowed the Haiti Partnership to continually achieve its goals of spreading awareness and raising funds in St. Mark’s. In addition, these successes have contributed to the longevity of the ethical and sustainable partnership that the Partnership shares with the school of Ste. Marguerite and the surrounding villages of Haiti.

A combination of political, environmental, and health crises in Haiti has made it an especially challenging year for the Partnership. As Haiti is a considerably young country with a unique and complicated history, political unrest looms within the nation; recent rising tensions have posed a great threat to the country’s governance. Under former President Jovenel Moise’s governing, Haiti has seen a surge of gangs and violence in the streets. President Moise also challenged democratic ideals, desiring to maintain his presidential status despite constitutional laws. This, combined with overwhelming dissent from the public, eventually led to the assasination of former President Moise in July 2021, leaving the country in political turmoil. In addition to societal challenges, Haiti is inundated with climatic and environmental obstacles. Many Haitians are still recovering from the 2010 earthquake, which is still regarded as one of the world's most devastating natural disasters. Not only was the earthquake responsible for the deaths of over  200,000 civilians and thousands of injuries, it also uprooted many families’ lives and heavily affected the country's resources and economy. Climate change continues to worsen these problems by increasing the frequency of tropical storms, floods, and heavy rainfalls which wreak havoc on Haitian communities almost annually. To add insult to injury, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has further devastated the Haitian economy and hurt Haitian livelihoods. All of these barriers have made it increasingly challenging for the Partnership to remain in contact with Haiti, send supplies to Haiti, and even host service learning opportunities to Haiti. Therefore, the sustained continuation of the ethical partnership between Haiti and St. Mark’s is greatly threatened. 

Given the challenges faced in Haiti, the contributions of students and faculty at St. Mark’s are crucial to sustaining the Partnership's ethical and sustainable fundraising efforts for Haiti. Raising awareness, participating in school events, and educating oneself about Haiti are all good ways to get involved.  There are many events throughout the school year such as bake sales and Play for Haiti t-shirt sales. The Haiti Partnership also hosts a club at St. Mark’s, currently run by Marianne Lyons and Caroline Sullivan. Given the multitude of opportunities and activities available, The Haiti Partnership would highly value the continued contributions of any and all individuals within the St. Mark’s community and encourages all members of St. Mark’s to attend the Haiti Partnership meetings which are held a few times each month.