Kent Place Senior Anna Salamone of North Caldwell Presents at Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Kent Place School senior Anna Salamone of North Caldwell attended the Newseum 2016 Teacher Open House in Washington, D.C., where she co-facilitated a workshop and spoke in a special session.

The Newseum Teacher Open House, “Freedom in the Balance,” was held for the first time this year. The event was open to all educators, and explored issues of freedom vs. national security and teaching about terrorism in the classroom.

Newseum had adopted several of the lessons for a digital classroom and physical exhibit from the For Action Initiative curriculum, used to raise awareness about the effects of public trauma and terrorism on people, societies, and the world, and to educate teachers and our youth about the history of terrorism, international relations, global security and domestic and international policies. Anna was a youth advisor to the project during its development period.

At Newseum, Anna ran a workshop with youth author Joan Bauer (Hope Was Here, a Newberry Honor book), and helped guide participants on how to use writing as a tool for healing from grief, especially for students who are not keen to talk about their loss. The workshop helped teachers recognize and support students who use writing, literature and other art forms to work through trauma and grief. In another session, Anna spoke about the need to educate students about terrorism, the history of it and causes of it, to best prepare students to understand world events, to become informed voters, and to lead the world to a safer place and time.

Kent Place Head of the Upper School, Elizabeth Woodall, attended the conference as well, and remarked that “Anna’s dedication to helping schools learn how to better support students and to making sure the events of 9/11 remain a part of current events and are treated with respect is remarkable,” she said. “As a child personally affected by the events of 9/11, Anna has a beautiful story to share about her experience in losing a parent, and how she has grown. Her story is helping others to find their own voice.”

The For Action Initiative’s lessons were also used as foundation for the creation of Kent Place’s Contemporary History class. This course analyzes the causes and effects of terrorism in a sensitive and academically appropriate way. For more information about academics at Kent Place, visit www.kentplace.org/academics.