Chain Reaction Day 2023

1) Freedom Zine Making Workshop, 120 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leaders: Cedar O’Dowd and

What does a more equitable world look like? Write poetry, draw, make comics, or collage to express your ideas.  Every student will contribute one page to a “zine,” a low budget, do it yourself, magazine.

2) Musing with Maya, 120 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Tara Goreau

In this mural workshop, we will create 1-3 large painting & collage pieces inspired by Maya Angelou quotes.

3) Race—The Power of an Illusion: Viewing and Discussion, 60 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Andrew Lane

In this workshop we will view and then discuss clips of the award-winning three-part docuseries, Race—The Power of an Illusion, which  provides a comprehensive and nuanced view of the history and uses of race.

4) The Children’s March, 60 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Kimberly Barnhart

The Children’s March is a documentary that tells the story of how the young people of Birmingham, Alabama, braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation to its knees. We will watch the film and then discuss how today’s young people to be catalysts for positive social change.

5) In the Streets with MLK: What we can do with Martin’s Work Today? 60 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Henry Harris

Martin Luther King Jr. changed a lot over the course of his leadership in the civil rights and greater social Justice movement, but has been changed far more by the media and the elite who have sought to tame and obscure his message. Find out more about what he thought, said, and did with Henry Harris, a nonviolent direct action schemer and community organizer from Vermont.

6) “Strange Fruit,” The sound of protest, 60 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Mary Newman

We will spend our time listening to a selection of songs and discussing what “protest music” means. Come ready to listen and converse!

7) Who is in charge of your life? You or your assumptions? 120 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leaders: Michael Livingston and Cora Swanberg

Join us for a fun, thoughtful and interactive discussion about the inadvertent assumptions we make, and how they shape our lives. It could change your life.

8) The Power of Empathy: 60 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Kate Fabrikant

This workshop will focus on students artistic expression of compassionate empathy. Students will create  individual 4” x 4” pieces of art using mixed media that express their version of compassionate empathy, these individual pieces will come together to create art installations at the MS and HS.

9)  If You Really Knew Me…, 60 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leaders: Spike Carter and Maria Piasecki

What does it mean to “be a man?” In this workshop we will unpack and explore cultural norms that shape males’ behaviors and experiences, including, for example, areas related to discussion of race, mental health & identity.  This brave, open forum for vulnerability, conversation and reflection is recommended for students age 14 and older. Workshop inspired and informed by The Mask You Live In documentary film and curriculum.

10) Anti-Racism Work and Dismantling Systems of Oppression , 120 Minute Workshop, Workshop Leader: Dana Decker

In this Workshop students will identify key terms related to anti-racism work, incorporate these words in a dialogue and develop a system for accountability when discussing  anti-racism with peers and  educators.  We will also be discussing anti-blackness and how that plays a key role in dismantling systems created to perpetuate oppression.