Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to November! I hope you each had a productive week. I know it’s been a busy one with the first quarter ending and parent-teacher conferences occurring for your younger students.
As you know, we continue to believe strongly in the value of student agency in our work. When students believe in themselves and feel ownership of their own learning, they are charting a course of lifelong learning and success.
This week, I was reminded of the power of student agency on two fronts. The first is from an incident that occurred last weekend. While I can’t provide confidential details, I learned that three of our high school students came to the assistance of a community member in crisis and helped prevent a tragedy from unfolding. These students could simply have ignored the situation, believing it was not their responsibility to act. They didn’t. They chose to engage and likely saved a life in the process. Their actions speak to their character and I am so proud of them for not choosing to simply be bystanders.
On Monday night, the town held a Special Town Meeting at WHS. The last item on the warrant was a Citizen’s Petition to lower the local voting age to 17. Two Wellesley students sponsored the bill, Kourosh Farboodmanesh (a WHS Senior) and Anya Khera (a Dana Hall Junior). This petition was a follow-up to a petition that went to Town Meeting in 2024 to lower the voting age in Wellesley to 16 (That petition failed). Anya and Kourosh presented a strong case for allowing their peers to participate in Town voting and the democratic process. While some Town Meeting Members remained unmoved in their opposition to this petition, it ultimately was approved by a vote of 101 to 85. In my opinion, what carried the day was the example that Anya and Kourosh themselves set through their strong convictions, compelling articulation of the issues, and obvious desire to be involved in the stewardship of the town. These students clearly have a great deal of agency that will serve them well long after they leave Wellesley.
At a time when our national discourse often leaves me dispirited, the aforementioned examples give me hope for the future. Thanks for your collective work in helping to develop the head, heart, and hands of our students. Have a great weekend!
Best, David
