Mount Madonna School Hosts Conversations Jan. 12

On Jan. 12, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Mount Madonna School will host “Conversations of Meaning,” via Zoom, an evening of dialogue and discovery facilitated by Values in Word Thought course founder SN Ward Mailliard and co-teacher Shannon Kelly, and designed to offer a glimpse into the Values program. RSVP to school@mountmadonnaschool.org to receive the Zoom link.

The capstone course spans 11th and 12th grades and engages students in meaningful conversations, active listening and respect and curiosity about the ideas of others.

Join the conversation, and learn how the Values class fosters literacy, self-confidence, thinking skills, collaboration and creativity, and supports the development of thoughtful, discerning, and empathetic individuals capable of taking responsibility for their actions and capable of facilitating and engaging in collaborative work.

“Through this coursework,” said Kelly, “students learn to live with complexity and ambiguity, and to enlarge their capacity to understand the power of questions and the importance of curiosity over criticality.”

The curriculum prepares students for interviews with government and non-government leaders in Washington, D.C. and international travel to places such as India and South Africa. Past interviewees have included Congressman John Lewis, and Nobel Laureates: former South African President F.W. de Klerk, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The process of interviewing people in positions of high responsibility and service to society builds confidence, helps students imagine a wider range of possibilities for what they can do with their lives, and encourages skills in research, language, and the intuitive process of knowing how to engage respectfully through questions.

“Values learning journeys create an atmosphere of practical discovery about self, relationships and how to maintain one’s composure and aims when meeting with the diverse challenges of the road,” said Mailliard. “This helps students to understand what we have in common as human beings, and, at a visceral level, that we have a certain level of responsibility for the well-being of others, and that serving our communities is one of the primary roads to a happy and meaningful life.”

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For more on the Values program: values.mountmadonnaschool.org/category/blogs/dc2018/