On a rainy Friday, November 3rd, the Trimester I Rights & Responsibilities class (required for all 9th graders) took a trip to downtown Rochester to hear first-hand memories of the July 1964 race rebellion and gain context for those events. After visiting Joseph Avenue, they ate lunch at El Pilon Criollo, then finished the trip with a workshop at the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.

Below is a write-up of the class trip:

The purpose of this trip is to better inform us about the strengths and challenges of our collective community, Rochester, and get us thinking about how we, personally, can make positive change.

We begin by reviewing the history of Rochester through the lens of the race rebellion of 1964.  Luis Perez, a local leader in Rochester who experienced the rebellion at the age of eight, will take us on a tour of Joseph Avenue, the street where the race rebellion of July ’64 took place and show us several organizations that were created in response to the rebellion. The goal is to understand the immediate impact the rebellion had and how it continues to impact us today.

We will stop for lunch at El Pilon Criollo, a local Caribbean restaurant in the city.

Finally, we will stop at the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, a local nonprofit activist group, to participate in a workshop that helps us digest the tour and consider the role we want to play in seeking solutions toward positive change around topics that are important to us.

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Luis Perez- Director of program Support and Expansion for Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association (GRSLA). Luis also worked as the Executive Director of Horizon at Harley for 6 years.

The Gandhi Institute Mission:

The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence is a nonprofit that equips people to use nonviolence to create a sustainable and just world for all. The M.K. Gandhi Institute collaborates with local organizations, academic institutions, students, and committed peacemakers in the following areas: nonviolence education, sustainability and environmental conservation, and the promotion of racial justice. We prioritize programming for people between the ages of 12 and 24 as well as those who serve those age groups.

The Institute continuously offers groups and individuals training in skills such as Nonviolent Communication, meditation and experiential interconnectedness, and fosters responses to systemic violence in the Rochester area through projects focused on urban agriculture, racial healing work and restorative approaches to conflict. // The Institute maintains a collection of books, videos, and recordings which cover the lives and legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other important social activists. These materials are available for use by those seeking to learn more about such topics. By serving as a physical manifestation of Gandhian principles and Martin Luther King’s Beloved Community, the Gandhi Institute seeks to advance the cause of peacemaking regionally and beyond from within a neighborhood challenged by poverty and violence.

Meg Sternowski kicked off the evening’s discussion. She is extremely passionate about sharing knowledge of the great things happening around Rochester and creating a resilient and empathetic community. With a background in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Sustainability, Meg works at Constellation Brands as their Corporate Environmental Sustainability Manager and manages and measures the company’s environmental footprint. Meg has a passion for waste – re-imagining, reusing, repurposing, and recycling to make a long term difference. As one of two employees dedicated to the topic of sustainability in a 8,000-person business, Meg spoke about how essential it is to take every opportunity to help make a difference for good.

Following Meg, Nate August described his work as the manager of the Wegmans Organic Farm & Orchard in Canandaigua, NY. Nate graduated from Cornell University’s Agricultural Sciences program in 2015 and now manages the many facets of the Wegmans farm. The farm works to integrate new research and technology with regenerative farming practices to increase the supply of regionally-grown, flavorful and nutritious food for Wegmans customers. Nate is passionate about exploring opportunities for innovation in the dynamic food production industry, while also finding agricultural practices that are efficient and enhance the land (rather than detracting from it).

The last of the three to share, Davy Brooks reflected back on their first exposure to sustainability work and the food-based courses they took two years ago that piqued their interest in the subject. Davy’s dive into sustainability work came through hands-on projects with the Harley bees, building in the workshop, and eventually independent studies where they considered the social side of community and sustainability, as well as the scientific side of it. Over their two years at Harley, Davy has  been involved in the design of the growing spaces, planting and managing the Micro-Farm, and maintaining the Harley bee hive within the Food and Farm program and maker ed offerings. Davy is currently working in an independent study to redesign the layout of the Harley Micro-Farm to maximize growing space and aesthetic appeal. 

The second half of the evening was a question/answer time for the panel, moderated by Seth O’Bryan, Commons Director.  When asked what schools could do to help increase awareness of sustainability efforts, the panelists answered: provide open-ended problem solving which result in positive changes in the school environment; make sustainability part of the ongoing dialogue of the school culture rather than just a class; bring green spaces to the center of the student experience; and give the students a forum when they can collaborate and reflect on their work.

As a fitting concluding question, Seth asked the panelists what they each hoped to accomplish in the coming year and why they were optimistic about the future.  Nate ended the evening sharing that, overall, people in operations naturally gravitate towards making systems more efficient and sustainable, and that the pursuit of sustainability is like enlightenment — never fully arriving, but constantly striving to be better.

Panelists Nate August ‘11, Davy Brooks ‘18, and Meg (Malone) Sternowski ‘06 will speak at The Harley School October 24 for the next Commons Series event about their sustainability work as well as how their experiences at Harley influenced their career paths. The panelists will also discuss why there is hope for a sustainable future. The format will include a question and answer session with the panel.

Nate graduated from Cornell University’s Agricultural Sciences program in 2015 and now manages the Wegmans Organic Farm & Orchard in Canandaigua, NY. The farm works to integrate new research and technology with regenerative farming practices to increase the supply of regionally-grown, flavorful and nutritious food for Wegmans customers. Nate is passionate about exploring opportunities for innovation in the dynamic food production industry.

Meg is extremely passionate about sharing knowledge of the great things happening around Rochester and with creating a resilient and empathetic community. With a background in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Sustainability, Meg works at Constellation Brands as their Corporate Environmental Sustainability Manager and manages and measures the company’s environmental footprint. Meg has a passion for waste – re-imagining, reusing, repurposing, and recycling to make a long term difference.

Davy Brooks is currently a Harley student who is a leader in the food and farm program and an active participant in the maker education program.  Davy has been involved in the design of the growing spaces, planting and managing the microfarm, and maintaining the Harley bee hives.  

To hear first hand about why we are especially excited about this event, you can access a podcast recorded by Seth O’Bryan, Commons Director, who will moderate the panel discussion and question and answer session for the evening. Enjoy and hope to see you there on Tuesday evening at 6:30!

Podcast — Seth O’Bryan preview of 10/24 Commons Series

As with most school-based organizations, the summer interrupts some of the momentum gained during the school year. This group was eager to reconnect and get the ball rolling again for the 2017-18 school year.  The first meeting of the year was held at Genesee Community Charter School on Saturday, October 21. The leadership team (including Thomas Neumaier from Harley) led the students through plans for the year including immediate opportunities (helping volunteer for the New York Climate Solutions Summit being hosted by Harley on 10/28; field trip to RIT research lab and bio-digestor) and long-term goals (host another youth climate summit; lobby county officials for single-use plastic bag ban/fee).

Several exciting collaborations and opportunities were discussed, including RIT, Cummings Nature Center, and the Fast Forward Film Festival. Stay tuned to hear more about what this group of climate change activists is doing in their schools and in Rochester!

In following up with the visitors after their brief time at Harley, a few shared their thoughts:

“Your email confirms all the good that I think of you and your school. We were very excited to share with our little sisters and I personally the girls inspired me and their teacher. At their age I was not as courageous and persevering and for that I admire them.

You have imputed to them the value of accepting others, of opening up to others what is truly admirable especially in the current context of the world. Congratulations for the formidable work you are doing in making all those children who are eager to discover the world better.”

“Our international visitors truly enjoyed hearing about your many-faceted programs, and the truly holistic way your students learn, and are taught to approach problems. Congratulations on helping form a thoughtful, ethical new generation of questioning young people. There is hope.”

Meet Lisa Barker, Food and Farm Coordinator. Lisa is responsible for all growing spaces on campus: the Baron Greenhouse in the Commons, the high tunnel, and the Harley Micro-Farm. You will learn more about her Food and Farm 101 course in a separate blog post.

Meet Kima Enerson, our new Maker Educator in the Commons. Kima is in charge of the workshop space in the basement of the Commons, but serves as a collaborator with many faculty to expand their teaching to include more hands-on and design thinking principles for their students. You will learn more about her work with the Middle School students in a separate blog post.

Kevin Boyd and Jocie Kopfman are returning teachers in the Commons, but this year they are teaching a new course together: Sustainable Community Engagement. This course offers students the opportunity to design an educational partnership with a locally based community non-profit organization. This hands-on engagement is coupled with an in-class introduction to basic elements of sociological research methods, with specific attention to power and access through the lenses of race, gender, and socio-economic factors. The pedagogical aim is to empower students with the tools to create mutual, enduring, and transformative social partnerships.

Our fearless Commons Director, Seth O’Bryan, helps oversee all of the courses in the Commons while teaching a few of his own specific to the sustainable energy and systems in the building.

TRIMESTER I COMMONS COURSES and CLUBS:

Design and Innovation Lab — Upper School elective

Design and Innovation Lab is an entry-level engineering and innovation class that exposes students to the basic elements of the design process (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) and then supports them through a series of increasingly difficult design challenges. Through this hands-on, shop-based class, students work with core engineering and design concepts and collaborate to solve various problems. Material and the related tools the students will utilize include cardboard, wood, metal, electronics, digital logic and programming, biology and plants, and more. Additionally, students learn the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to operate a baseline set of tools in the shop safely and effectively.

Design and Innovation Flex Time – Middle School flex time option

Middle School students learn the basics of design in the Workshop, while developing familiarity and skills with hand tools.

Food and Farm 101 – Upper School elective

This course provides students with experiential hands-on learning through working as the management and labor force behind the Harley Micro-Farm and greenhouse. This fall, students have been harvesting produce and experimenting with unique recipes, as well as planning and planting crops for fall/winter green production in the high tunnel. They also have the opportunity to explore design concepts related to small-scale food production and education, as well as to examine the framework of community food systems, beginning to think conceptually and practically about real-world food issues, discrepancies, and solutions.

Food and Farm Flex Time– Middle School flex time option

Middle School students can spend time working with Lisa in the Micro-Farm and getting their hands dirty!

Garden Club – Upper School weekly club

The Garden Club has been working on identifying projects around the Micro-Farm and are starting with supporting the compost program.

Hospice – Upper School year-long elective

Students learn both the medical and emotional side of providing end-of-life care, which includes assigned shifts at local hospice houses and reflection on what they are learning and feeling as they care for others.

Independent Studies – Upper School electives

Students are offered opportunities to pursue a particular subject in-depth or develop an understanding of a topic not offered in the current curriculum.

Intro to Mindfulness – Upper School elective

A trimester course designed to introduce students to elements of mindful practice, the research behind it, and exercises/meditation to increase their awareness of their thoughts and ability to be fully present in the moment.

Living Building – Upper School elective

Students work together to investigate topics and address problems related to the Commons building and sustainability. This trimester, the students are building a gate for the Micro-Farm, studying coding to gather data from the solar chimneys, and designing and interactive lobby space for the ground floor of the Commons.

Maker Mornings — Sixth Grade homeroom activities

The sixth grade homerooms attend Maker Mornings once a week each to build their sense of community, learn to work collaboratively, and to tackle quick engineering challenges in the Project Space.

Rights & Responsibilities – Ninth Grade mandatory trimester rotation

R & R is a trimester-long freshman seminar that engages students in discussions and activities that explore our individual and collective rights and responsibilities within the various communities to which we belong. Students use issues facing the Harley community, the Rochester community, and the broader national and global communities as discussion points and examples. They explore their thoughts and opinions about these issues in terms of individual and collective success, and social and environmental justice. Students learn basic qualitative research skills in order to explore a social issue that interests them so that they can effectively advocate and work toward solutions they could implement to effect positive social change.

Robotics– Upper School year-long elective

Students are introduced to the basics of coding in this course. They learn how to design and build a robot to complete specific tasks as assigned by the competitive league guidelines. Using design thinking, collaborative problem solving, and creativity, the “team” learns how to maximize their strengths to leverage the best outcome as they program their robot and prepare for competition.

Sustainable Community Engagement – Upper School year-long elective

This course offers students the opportunity to design an educational partnership with a locally based community non-profit organization. This hands-on engagement is coupled with an in-class introduction to basic elements of sociological research methods, with specific attention to power and access through the lenses of race, gender, and socio-economic factors. The pedagogical aim is to empower students with the tools to create mutual, enduring, and transformative social partnerships.

The evening began with Wade Norwood (Harley Parent ’16), Chief Strategy Officer for Common Ground Health, sharing the history of the ground-breaking regional health care in this area that served as a national model in the 1960s. He commented on his past experience and current work providing strategic direction for integrating the agency’s clinical, public health, and prevention programs and overseeing the agency’s programming and processes while building critical partnerships with other regional organizations. He shared Tom Frieden’s health impact pyramid and McGinnis’ model of potential life lost, especially as they relate to the different zip codes in and around Rochester.  According to Norwood, “health improvement requires us to address culture and how environment and health behaviors are dynamically linked.”

Dr. Elizabeth Murray was up next to talk about her work as an Attending Physician in the Pediatric Emergency Department of the Golisano Children’s Hospital, but more specifically about her work in the REACH Program within the Bivona Child Advocacy Center as one of the region’s two Child Abuse and Maltreatment specialists. She presented the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) factors and pyramid, and walked the audience through a case study of a child she treated. For children who receive an ACE score over 4, their lives are already shortened by 20 years. Dr. Murray addressed the many kinds of abuse, neglect,  and dysfunction which can dramatically and negatively impact the physical and mental well-being and growth of children. She shared the many ways that the Rochester health community is working to advocate for these children, provide social services, and nurture their recovery and development.

The final group to share were therapists from The Healing Connection, Victoria LoMaglio, LMHC, NCC (Harley graduate in ‘06), and Alexandra Wilkosz, LCSW.  Both Vikki and Ali work to support patients with eating disorders, helping with recovery and the motivation for recovery. They explained the different kinds of eating disorders (and binge eating has just been added to that classification recently) and the impact they can have on a person’s physical and mental health. They believe that eating disorders are diseases of disconnection. Their organization, The Healing Connection, offers a variety of treatment options, depending on the severity of the condition.  As they shared about their work, it was easy to draw the line of connection from adverse living environment to abusive or self-harm situations to the need for direct intervention and support of individuals who face such difficulties.

At the end of the individual presentations, the four experts formed a panel to answer questions from the audience. While the attendance was a bit sparse, the questions from the people in the audience were deep and probing, ranging from providing meals for children living in poverty to self-care to resources for schools and educators.

Erica Bryant is a columnist and editorial board member at the Democrat and Chronicle. She writes about education, the environment, and efforts to improve life for all in Rochester. Rajesh Barnabas’ sprawling career includes reporter for a small weekly newspaper, contributor to Rochester Indymedia, teacher, activist, instructional designer, and documentary filmmaker. He is currently Producer and Educator for Rochester Community TV and WXIR radio.

You can hear the preview podcast Erica and Rajesh recorded here:  Podcast preview with Erica Bryant and Rajesh Barnabas

Dr. Pasternack is a Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He works as attending physician in the emergency department at Strong Memorial Hospital and at Golisano Children’s Hospital. His education includes Sc.B. from Brown University, M.D. in Mathematical Physics and Ph.D. in Mathematics from Princeton University, M.D. from the University of Rochester. More than that, however, he is a savvy consumer of his world and a relentless mathematician who seeks to understand all aspects of a choice before making a decision. His experience shopping for a new car (hybrid? fully electric? gas-powered?) led him to dig deeply into the cost per unit for each kind of energy (electricity from various sources, gas, etc.) and what the threshold would be in order to make his choice of electric car cost-reducing and efficient. He described how much power can be gained from one cup of gasoline, as opposed to the equivalent battery power.

The evening discussion was lively and fast-paced, with an informed and intelligent audience peppering Dr. Pasternack with different scenarios, which he ably addressed and used to then drive deeper discussions. The energy systems of the Commons building were also examined for their effectiveness and purpose (working towards the greater environmental good is not necessarily the least expensive option yet…). Those who attended certainly left strongly motivated to examine their utility bills and armed with meaningful information.