School Community Celebrates Inaugural Brandeis Day

Today, our school community joined together for the first annual Justice Louis Brandeis Day, a day for our students to learn about the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, learn about civic institutions in the United States, and explore questions of ethical leadership and radical empathy. “A few things came together to make this day happen,” explains Head of School Dr. Dan Glass. “After last year’s election, we really began to think about the idea of radical empathy and how important it is for a democracy. Democracy is predicated on the idea that different perspectives are valuable and important.” In addition to thinking about radical empathy, “the Karp-Haahr family came to us wanting to support the school in developing a curriculum around radical empathy. Given that our school is named for a US Supreme Court justice, this seemed like the perfect tie-in for our students, as we want them to have the capacity to engage as democratic citizens both as young people and after they graduate.”

 

The day began with a schoolwide assembly to kick off this meaningful morning of learning, followed by classroom discussions reflecting on radical empathy, effective advocacy, what grounds us, and what we stand up for. Middle school students continued the day learning about the Supreme Court and free speech, ethical leadership, Zionism in the early twentieth century and beyond, and poetry and social change.

 

In addition, students participated in a workshop—organized by Crystal Brown, arts outreach coordinator—hosted by artist-in-residence Julia Goodman, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. “It was exciting to have such an engaging artist here at Brandeis,” says Ms. Brown. “She offered our students insight into life as an artist. Her work beautifully ties together leadership and Jewish cultural values, so it made perfect sense to bring her in for Justice Louis Brandeis Day.” MORE PHOTOS