I take no credit for the title of this blog. It is the title of a Seth Godin blog and it resonated with me.
This past Saturday, I was presenting an overview to prospective St. Clement’s Junior School parents and sharing that one of the desired competencies we wish to develop in our girls is that of citizenship. When speaking with parents about their daughters being good citizens, our recent Holocaust assembly was top of mind.
Working to develop good citizens doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it up to one person. As Godin writes, “Sometimes we call citizens heroes, which is a shame, because their actions should be commonplace, not rare.”
Near the beginning of the year, Vice Principal Ms Henricks and I led assembly and shared research by McEachen and Quinn about citizenship. They suggest that citizenship is demonstrated by making a difference by being engaged, possessing a high level of comfort and interest in tackling real world problems, and considering global issues in relation to diverse values and world views.
Last week, as we remembered the holocaust on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and worked to ensure that issues of health did not become issues of racism, I thought of the role of good citizens in contributing to positive change.
Never has it been more important to ensure that our girls “do the right thing because they can.”
