By Katie Smith ‘26
Do you ever struggle with talking to your friends about difficult or touchy topics? Well, you are in luck because there is a new advisor program curriculum about how to have difficult conversations.
At the end of last year, English teacher Ms. Kiingi and Ms. Saunders, the Assistant Athletics Director, came up with an idea about how to help students disagree while using appropriate and respectful language.
Kiingi and Saunders used a summer grant to research and create new advisor activities. During advisor periods throughout the year, students will engage with resources like videos, ads, and commercials to start conversations and spark ideas.
In the aftermath of a stressful presidential election, these activities can be especially useful.
Ms. Kiingi said, “When having hard conversations, especially around politics, it is important to try to find middle ground.”
Ms. Kiingi said that in the 14 lessons that she and Ms. Saunders created, they aimed to support our core values of inclusivity and self-expression.
There is a lot of negativity in today’s culture; however, it can be broken when individuals learn to talk honestly and peacefully.
“I’m going to tell you the truth, I think the students at our school are a lot more respectful than what you see on TV,” said Ms. Kiingi. ” But what we are seeing out in the news media is a lot of hateful language… let’s not do that.”
