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Students & Police Play with a Purpose
From Head of Upper School and 9th Grade English teacher Liz Perry:
St. Luke’s J-Term has become a tradition at St. Luke’s when 9th graders spend a week participating in an immersive, project-based learning experience focusing on a chosen theme and topic. This year’s theme (chosen in early September) was “What is the meaning of freedom in America?” When 9th graders were asked to identify specific issues, topics as diverse as climate change, animal rights, and gender equality emerged. One group chose to focus on racial inequality and police brutality. Recognizing the charged nature of the topic, students began the week sharing why they selected this group and then shared personal stories related to the police.
The students were challenged to practice the St. Luke’s Community Goals for Learning in their research: Curiosity, Open-Mindedness, Seeking Truth and Understanding, Reflection, and Integrity. They quickly realized that they wanted to interview police officers to understand their experiences. They met with three members of the Stamford Police Department listening, asking questions, and taking notes. One of the biggest take-aways for the students was that police officers are people beyond their uniform. As St. Luke’s student Janelle Johnson ‘20 said it in her email to fellow students, “What the officers conveyed the most was that they wanted to be seen as normal members of the community.” She explained that students wanted a way to spread this message to the wider St. Luke’s community: “We want to break down some of the walls between police and citizens.”
To accomplish this goal, the students hosted a basketball game with the teams made up of players from both St. Luke’s Boys and Girls Varsity teams and police officers from the New Canaan Police Department. The February 15 game was a great success with the St. Luke’s players and police officers competing and having fun. The 30-minute game featured officers passing the ball to students, students cheering for officers, and everyone high-fiving at the end. At the close of the event, Cate Brown ‘20 thanked everyone for attending, adding, “We are so grateful to the New Canaan Police Department officers for giving their time to this event and for helping us get to know them out of uniform, just as regular people.”
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
