Photo Courtesy of Mint
One of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School’s core tenets of progressive education is “ethical” — the word is not just part of our school’s name, it is central to our mission. The school’s website defines the core tenet of ethical as: “We nurture our students’ capacity for morality and empathy, helping provide the framework and knowledge necessary to live an ethical life. We teach our students how to think critically and then act with compassion. We teach our students to ask, How am I contributing? and Is this right?” As Joe Algrant, Head of School, states, “As part of the mission of ECFS, members of the community felt compelled into action, and we are very grateful for the support the drive has received.” This describes exactly how ECFS approaches a crisis such as the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023.
An email was sent to the ECFS community on Monday, February 20th, from Joe Algrant about what our school is doing to help the Turkish and Syrian communities. Algrant led with, “Our thoughts are with those community members who have family and loved ones impacted by the tragedy, and we are grateful for all of you who have suggested ways for us to be directly supportive.” Algrant explained that there is an all school drive started by the Middle School Community Service Committee. The items most needed are hand warmers, blankets, sleeping bags, camping mats, tents, flashlights, power banks, and ready to drink baby formula. As Algrant stated, “As the situation and items needed are rapidly changing, you can learn more about how you can support disaster relief efforts in Turkey and Syria through organizations making a direct impact.” He went on to list five organizations suggested by members of our community in addition to the drive. All Upper School community service learning classes are engaging their peers and working towards a better future for Turkey and Syria.
The Upper School service learning class, Community Service Advisory Board In Training (CSAB-IT), are supporting the school’s efforts with the drive as well as creating their own candygram sale. The candygram sale are bags of candy students can buy for their friends that cost $5 and all of the money goes to the victims of the earthquake. The candygram sale ends February 22nd. For the drive, they have been emailing the community about and collecting supplies. Shayna Sacks, a student in the CSAB-IT class, states, “We are having a candygram sale to support earth quake relief in Turkey and Syria. 100% of the profits will be split to 4 organizations: Turkish Philanthropy Funds, Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Global Giving: Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund. There are also blue collection bins around the school for donations of the previously stated items. We are also currently doing a lightly used book drive for Project Cicero in pink bins around campus. On February 28th there will be a books for baked goods exchange in the commons where you can give a book to get a baked treat!” All community service classes throughout the middle and upper schools are putting in a large effort to get Turkey and Syria back on their feet.
On top of helping the Turkish and Syrian communities from a distance, many people in our community have friends and family in Turkey and Syria who have been directly impacted by the tragedy. The school has acknowledged this and is providing support to children who have been affected. As Algrant stated, “We are asking faculty and staff to be mindful of students who may have family members affected by the tragedy.” The school has also ensured that guidance counselors, teachers, and deans are available to talk with students who need to talk about the tragedy.
Although people in our community aren’t able to go to Turkey and Syria in order to physically help, we are doing as much as we can from a distance. We are having drives that have started from Middle and Upper school students as well as community service classes that have created drives or given sites to donate to. It is important to note that this is the first time our school has given out sites to donate to rather than just asking for items. Everything our school is doing will eventually get Turkey and Syria to a better place and help the people in the communities.
