George School will be in session on Monday, January 18, 2010, for its twenty-first annual all-day commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Also on that day, a group of students and faculty will travel off campus to participate in the Fifteenth Annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

After a morning class period at George School, the commemoration on campus will begin in Walton Center Auditorium with an all-school assembly program from 8:55 to 10:25 a.m. featuring a one-person show by actor, psychologist, and poet Michael Fowlin. Entitled “You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me,” the performance consists of monologues by nine diverse characters, each of whom is portrayed by Michael. The monologues address themes such as race, discrimination, violence prevention, personal identity, suicide, the emotional pain felt by special education children, homophobia, and gender equity. Michael’s performances are designed to combine his acting abilities and psychological training to create an atmosphere of worldwide inclusion towards all people.

Following the assembly, various town hall meetings and workshop sessions on campus will encourage participants to discuss and reflect in a variety of ways on Dr. King’s message of peace; diversity; and ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, and religious inclusiveness. These sessions are scheduled to run from 10:30 to 11:20 a.m., 11:25 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. Each student will have the opportunity to attend two sessions and lunch during the three time periods.

Levi Roy, a 2008 alumnus of George School, will present a workshop at the event for the second time since he graduated. “Martin Luther King Jr. Day was important to me as a student because it was a chance for everyone to focus on what made us all so unique,” said Levi, who played an active role in the event at George School every year during his time as a student. “Rarely did anyone walk away from both of their workshops without learning something new about the topic or the people receiving and giving the information,” he recalled. The workshop he presents this year will be about affirmative action. “I’m most looking forward to the great discussions that occur during the workshops,” he said.

Paige Lispcome, a sophomore from Washington DC, will present another workshop based on exercises she took part in at the Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Denver, Colorado, which she attended with four other George School students in December 2009. “I am having a workshop to discuss the big identifiers of who we each are and to talk about the cycle of oppression,” Paige said. “I am looking forward to helping people, learning more about others, and seeing the end result of the whole day,” she added.

The commemoration on campus will conclude with an all-school meeting for worship from 1:20 to 2:00 p.m. in the George School Meetinghouse. Afternoon athletic practices will run as scheduled.

Approximately twenty-six students and three faculty members will travel off campus to participate in the Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service, taking part in two programs before returning to George School for the all-school meeting for worship. The first program will partner George School students with students from YouthBuild Charter School, an organization that gives young adults who have dropped out of high school the chance to earn a high school diploma, gain job skills, and contribute to their communities. Together, students from YouthBuild and George School will attend a workshop entitled “We Were There: A Point from the Past to Better the Future” by original members of the Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia Freedom Fighters, a group that worked for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. The program will include small-group discussions about social justice topics.

After the Philadelphia-area workshop, the group of George School students will participate in a second Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service program, an energy conservation challenge called “CFL Smackdown.” Organized by the Energy Coordinating Agency, the event is a one-hour race to distribute compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), which are an energy-efficient alternative to incandescent light bulbs. According to the ENERGY STAR program, CFLs use 75 percent less energy and last approximately ten times longer than incandescent light bulbs, and their use can result in savings of about $30 per bulb. During the CFL Smackdown, teams made up of four volunteers each will distribute CFLs to residences near Girard College in Philadelphia, and the team that hands out the most CFLs will win. A total of over 10,000 CFLs will be provided to the volunteers for the challenge.

“Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an important tradition at George School,” said Director of Admission Jenna Davis, who helps plan the school’s events for the day. “Each year we strive to provide a variety of opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to come together as a community and draw inspiration from Dr. King’s ideals.”

About George School
Founded in 1893 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), George School, a rigorous coed boarding and day school for grades nine through twelve, educates students from twenty-one states, thirty-four foreign countries, and a variety of ethnic, racial, religious, and economic backgrounds. Through its commitment to diversity and the Quaker values of equality, integrity, and peacemaking, George School inspires students to be led by their own truths while respecting and appreciating opinions and beliefs different from their own. George School was one of the first schools in the United States to implement an International Baccalaureate diploma program. For information about admission, please call 215.579.6547 or visit http://www.georgeschool.org.