By Micah Ingram
Over several consecutive weekends, Lovett hosted a summit for students seeking leadership opportunities and engaging with others on various global issues. This seminar was organized by students and faculty members, who spent hours making this as great as possible. It was Lovett’s first year hosting it at Lovett, but the event has been going on for many years with the organization, the Institute of Global Learning. The event hosted students from unique schools all over.
Ms. Armato, who works in the college counseling office, was one of the faculty members involved in organizing this summit, which had been in the works since last spring. She expressed how her favorite part was watching all the different students working on this and seeing everything come together, as it was the event’s first year at Lovett.
Leading up to the big day, they undertook extensive preparation, including teaching students how to facilitate dialogue, handle challenges, and promote the event to their peers.
Although Kennedy Crane, an 11th grader, expressed that one of the challenges was getting the word out to the students and advertising the event, which is something to work on for the next year.
When I spoke with Mr. Nascimento, who was one of the lead faculty organizing this event, he said that “it was mostly student-run and they spent hard-earned hours preparing for this seminar.”
The seminar took place at the middle school, starting at 8 and ending at 5. When I walked into the workshop, I immediately noticed the casual atmosphere and the chatter of the various people around me. The seminar was highly organized, divided into multiple groups of 6-7 people.
Immediately, our group leaders started to ease into the subject by asking different questions about everybody’s experiences with their environment and surroundings at their respective schools.
The seminar also featured speeches and presentations from an international group of students, including those from Florida and Canada.
Personally, I enjoyed that it felt less like a lecture and more like a respectful conversation. It was a great opportunity to see many different perspectives and viewpoints from people besides your own.
Ms. Armato expressed how her favorite part was “seeing all the student leaders who chose to plan the dialogues, and just seeing them in action and their hard work come to fruition.”
I also had the chance to talk to some of the students’ facilitators, Kennedy and Heran, who shared their experiences in planning and participating in the event.
Heran, an 11th grader, expressed that this seminar was very important to her because she wanted to create the space that she wished she had found when she came to Lovett in middle school. She also expressed how this seminar was a great opportunity to develop and practice her leadership skills.
However, this seminar was not only about engaging with people from different perspectives, but its deeper meaning also highlighted the importance of navigating the division in our world, and it’s crucial to know how to engage in those conversations.
“Schools across the country continue to learn how to how this type of respectful and constructive dialogue amongst each other,” Ms. Armato said.
