Dear Editors,

I read with great interest Evan Hughes’s recent piece on the SLICE workshops, and I am thrilled to see that the model of students-leading-students in conversations about issues of identity and diversity lives on at Parker.  I had a chance to work briefly with the SLICE leaders during one of their initial trainings, and I was deeply moved by their optimism, their enthusiasm, and their faith that they can and will make a contribution towards ensuring that Parker remains a school where dialogue is paramount, and diversity is a source of our strength.  I wish that all Parker students (not just freshmen) had more opportunities to engage in formal discussion about their experiences with race, with gender, and other complex components of our American experience. And I have great admiration for the 31 SLICE leaders, who were savvy enough to jump on this opportunity to expand their outlook and skills through the training they are experiencing. I look forward to the day when programs like SLICE permeate all grades of the Upper School.

Keep up the good work!

Jeanne Barr (Upper School history teacher)