Poly held its third annual Solidarity Week in early November. “Solidarity Week is a way for students to learn about difference, respect, and safety for every member of our school community while celebrating allyship and encouraging solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth here at Poly and beyond,” Jared Winston, director of student life, wrote in an email to the student body last month.
The highlight of the week was when Upper School students welcomed Lower School students to the Dyker Heights campus, where they engaged in fun activities. The activities began with Upper School leaders reading aloud testimonials from members of the LGBTQ+ community at Poly about their personal experiences. Afterward, the students worked together to create solidarity-themed patches that the Lower School students then used to make a quilt which will be hung at the Park Slope campus. The day concluded with everyone going out to the baseball field to listen to a speech from GSA Leader Griff Allen ’25. Students then held up pieces of paper with their grade-assigned color and took a picture as one community. The purpose of this day was to make sure that students better understood the importance of accepting each other. Now, how did this all come together?
To bring Solidarity Week to life, much planning and coordination was necessary. The groundwork for this collaborative effort was laid out during the Lower School students’ week-long study on solidarity. Their studies focused on developing essential qualities such as becoming upstanders, practicing kindness, and exploring the role of being an ally for all community members. Francis Yasharian, Head of Poly Lower School, was a key organizer of Solidarity Week, providing valuable insights into the importance of Solidarity Week as a whole despite it being such a simple series of activities. He emphasized, “We know that one day, one photo, or one week won’t change things, but our goal is to spark conversations that can lead to new thoughts and actions.”
Yasharian said he’d “love to see this event be completely student-led and for the learning to build on previous learning in all three divisions.” In addition, he spoke to the broader values of our school, stating that this being the only day in which all three parts of our school interact together at once “says something about our values and our goals for our school.” To stress the importance of even the younger students participating in these activities, Yasharian mentioned, “We each have a role to play in making sure everyone feels seen, supported, and welcome here at Poly Prep.”
Eddie Fitzgerald, director of forensics and debate and a member of the Upper School DEIB team, mentioned that “the change to add a shared reading of children’s books was a really meaningful addition. Centering this year’s conversations on LGBTQ children’s books helped provide a baseline of material that could be returned to that solidly grounded the conversations with more intentional depth.” In addition, Fitzgerald spoke about Allen’s speech and said that “having Griff speak to the entire school about what Solidarity Day means to him was really powerful.” The speech was a new part of Solidarity Week that, as Winston stated, can “become a tradition for years to come.”
Winston, a key planner of Solidarity Week, viewed the initiative as a step toward positive change and stated, “Poly is the external force that drives us closer to reaching our aims and aspirations.” Winston believes welcoming the Lower School community is more than a logistical task. It becomes a transformative experience, “softening our older students” and “fostering genuine joy and connections.”
Reflecting on Solidarity Week’s success, Winston acknowledged the challenges of staging large events. He stated, “When we aim big, there is always the opportunity that we miss big.” However, success is found in a deeper understanding of Poly’s mission. “We want to make Solidarity Week as meaningful as possible,” he emphasized. Winston echoed Yasharian on the importance of large events within the community and stated, “This community time is a large part of what makes Poly ‘Poly.’”
To close off, using the words of Allen, Solidarity Week is important and valuable because it helps us understand that “It is our differences that make us stronger, smarter, more collaborative, more forgiving, and leave us with a better understanding of resilience and love. At the end of the day, love is what this is all about. We must treat our differences as unifying factors rather than means to separate and judge.”
Quotes:
Yasharian:
Solidarity Week is important because it’s a great way for us to learn about and practice being in solidarity with others. We each have a role to play in making sure everyone feels seen, supported, and welcome here at Poly Prep. We know that one day, one photo, or one week won’t change things, but our goal is to spark conversations that can lead to new thoughts and actions. This is the only time when students in all three divisions come together during the school day, and that says something about our values and our goals for our school. This year, it was exciting to have MS/US students serve as learning facilitators in each room. Our student leaders selected the text each room read, facilitated the discussion and activity, and in rooms with just Middle and Upper School students, they wrote and collected important personal stories from LGBTQ+ members of the Poly community to serve as fodder for their rooms’ discussions. I’d love to see this event be completely student-led and for the learning to build on previous learning in all three divisions.
Fitz: I feel that the presence of lower school students adds an ownership to how upper school students engage in the day. Since it’s apparent that their participation and contributions to the conversations aren’t just for themselves, but also serve as a model and source of expertise for the lower school students, it raises their awareness of the day’s importance. This is the only time that students from all grades are sharing spaces, which is important symbolically as we understand solidarity, but also practically gives students learning opportunities that are unique.
For me the change to add a shared reading of children’s books was a really meaningful addition. It helped center the conversation and provide material that could be referenced back during the conversation. In the past, I think that out of a desire to make connections with lower school students, the conversations in classrooms tended, at times, to boil down to a message about the power of recognizing shared interests across differences. Centering this year’s conversations on LGBTQ childrens books helped provide a baseline of material that could be returned to that solidly grounded the conversations with more intentional depth.
Also, having Griff speak to the entire school about what solidarity day means to them was really powerful.
Stultz: My role in this event was like the other teachers and faculty, to support the student facilitators and help out with the little ones when needed. I will say that I enjoyed hosting our Lower School students; they bring great energy to our campus and allow our students to step up as leaders. I’m always impressed with our 5th and 6th graders, in particular, because they really get to show their maturity during the activities.
