Election task force takes on inauguration-related stress
January/February 2017, News
In the wake of a controversial and emotionally taxing presidential election, an inauguration task force comprised of Upper School faculty was formed in order to address the role the election would play in the classroom. Upper School history teacher Ryan Oto organized this task force shortly after the People of Color Conference, in order to prepare teachers for meaningful conversations about the election effectively at school.
“When I came back from the People of Color Conference, I was interested in Upper School specific issues, I was talking with [Diversity Dean] Karen Dye and [Upper School Principal] Mr. Hughes about what I might be able to do there...they both recommended bringing together faculty to talk about what we can do as teachers leading into the inauguration itself,” Oto said.
The task force is primarily concerned with supporting teachers, although students will certainly be impacted by any changes their teachers make in class.
“[We wanted to] try to see how [teachers] were feeling about the election — specifically, what types of pedagogical issues they were running into, what they as adults need to feel like they could do their jobs really effectively,” Oto said. “We’re hoping to empower the adults — [teachers] need to feel like they have the skills and the backing...to have those conversations, and experience with them.”
A total of 10 teachers from a wide variety of departments—from math to the humanities— were asked to join the task force. Upper School science teacher Ned Heckman, English teachers Philip de Sa e Silva, Molly Olguin, and Emily Anderson, French teacher Sophie Kerman, history teachers Aaron Shulow and Jon Peterson, math teacher Jim McVeety, and Assistant Director of College Counseling Karna Ivory are all members. The task force will be done meeting for the time being after the Presidential inauguration, but they may resume at some point in the future.
Peterson believes that the intense response Trump’s election inspired here at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, as well as in America at large, have left teachers in a more worrisome situation than was expected.
“People were concerned about how to proceed to deal with — on one hand, the feelings, the raw emotions [but] also the questions that come with any change in power — especially this one, which is different from a lot of other ones that we’ve had,” he said.
Peterson is hoping that the task force will also help students have more sophisticated conversations.
“[I want] to have a way for students to talk about [the issues] that [is] not so much spouting off on social media but talking to people face to face,” he said.
Olguin hopes that the task force will be able to motivate teachers to think deeply about and respond to the election in class, no matter which subject they teach.
“[The task force hopes to] be open to those conversations regardless of the discipline where it may come up...political considerations come up in all disciplines regardless of whether it’s English or science,” she said.
Oto is The faculty is excited to see how conversations and ideas the task force has put forth during meetings will manifest in changes in the classroom.
“[The meetings were] well attended and the adults were really enthusiastic — that's a sign of really positive energy in the school that can be tapped...we have the momentum to start thinking really innovatively with how we teach and how we can make our practice more effective,” he said.
“When I came back from the People of Color Conference, I was interested in Upper School specific issues, I was talking with [Diversity Dean] Karen Dye and [Upper School Principal] Mr. Hughes about what I might be able to do there...they both recommended bringing together faculty to talk about what we can do as teachers leading into the inauguration itself,” Oto said.
The task force is primarily concerned with supporting teachers, although students will certainly be impacted by any changes their teachers make in class.
“[We wanted to] try to see how [teachers] were feeling about the election — specifically, what types of pedagogical issues they were running into, what they as adults need to feel like they could do their jobs really effectively,” Oto said. “We’re hoping to empower the adults — [teachers] need to feel like they have the skills and the backing...to have those conversations, and experience with them.”
A total of 10 teachers from a wide variety of departments—from math to the humanities— were asked to join the task force. Upper School science teacher Ned Heckman, English teachers Philip de Sa e Silva, Molly Olguin, and Emily Anderson, French teacher Sophie Kerman, history teachers Aaron Shulow and Jon Peterson, math teacher Jim McVeety, and Assistant Director of College Counseling Karna Ivory are all members. The task force will be done meeting for the time being after the Presidential inauguration, but they may resume at some point in the future.
Peterson believes that the intense response Trump’s election inspired here at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, as well as in America at large, have left teachers in a more worrisome situation than was expected.
“People were concerned about how to proceed to deal with — on one hand, the feelings, the raw emotions [but] also the questions that come with any change in power — especially this one, which is different from a lot of other ones that we’ve had,” he said.
Peterson is hoping that the task force will also help students have more sophisticated conversations.
“[I want] to have a way for students to talk about [the issues] that [is] not so much spouting off on social media but talking to people face to face,” he said.
Olguin hopes that the task force will be able to motivate teachers to think deeply about and respond to the election in class, no matter which subject they teach.
“[The task force hopes to] be open to those conversations regardless of the discipline where it may come up...political considerations come up in all disciplines regardless of whether it’s English or science,” she said.
Oto is The faculty is excited to see how conversations and ideas the task force has put forth during meetings will manifest in changes in the classroom.
“[The meetings were] well attended and the adults were really enthusiastic — that's a sign of really positive energy in the school that can be tapped...we have the momentum to start thinking really innovatively with how we teach and how we can make our practice more effective,” he said.