George School Honors King With Four-Day Commemoration

George School doesn’t close on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Rather, the school uses it as an opportunity to teach the students the important message of King and his role on our society.

MLK Day “is not a day off at the George School,” said Marion Wells, George School librarian and a lead organizer of the Martin Luther King Day events. “We use it as an opportunity to promote the teachings of Martin Luther King.”

This year, commemoration of King was expanded beyond a single day as the school hosted a Unity Weekend -- four days of service and education.  The commemoration culminated today with a presentation by filmmaker Andre Robert Lee, who directed and produced “The Prep School Negro.”

Lee’s film explores the internal struggles he faced as one of the only African American students at Germantown Friends School, where he was rewarded a full scholarship.

Lee, who grew up in Philadelphia and now lives in New York City, has been traveling the country to speak about his film and spark what he believes is a much-needed conversation about race in America.

“The Prep School Negro” was screened during an assembly with students, faculty, and residents of Pennswood Village, a nearby retirement community. A question and answer period followed.

“Our society needs to change,” Lee said in an interview with Patch after the assembly. “Race and class are so huge and so hard to talk about.”

Lee said he believes the country has a long way to go before it has sufficiently addressed the issue of race and class in America. Even after the election of our first African American president, Barack Obama, “we’re all still afraid to talk about (race) on a national level.”

Opening up the dialogue about race and reflecting on King is just what the school wanted to do during its four-day commemoration.

Steven Fletcher, a math and science teacher who helped organize the commemoration, said he wanted to "continue the dialogue about diversity, race, and class at George School."

It’s not just math and science that students should be learning about, Fletcher said. “Education should continue and spill out of the classroom. In some cases we don’t have the chance to educate the whole person in the classroom," he said.

After Monday’s presentation, students gathered for workshops that encouraged a dialogue about the themes in the documentary. The school’s Diversity Oversight Committee trained students to facilitate the workshops using an exercise that encourages an honest discussion of the differences in socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds, according to school officials.

Sophomore Damon McCasker, a George School student from Newark, N.J., was a workshop facilitator. He said the film and presentation by Lee resonated with him because, as an African American at George School, he has a similar background as Lee.  McCasker said he hoped the film would help students see the issue of race from a different perspective. “By seeing that perspective, it helps lead to equality,” McCasker said.

McCasker noted that he believes the George School is a diverse environment that has enabled him to meet people from various backgrounds, including his roommate from South Korea.

George School’s Unity Weekend began Friday, as the school hosted a dance with the Miracle League, an area organization that provides opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in sports.

Then, on Saturday, students visited KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy in Philadelphia, where they helped paint inspirational quotes on the school building. A special dinner and Quaker meeting worship was held Sunday.