The week of Jan. 16 was truly impactful for many Hill students across campus. The Hill School started the week by having Michael Tennant ’00, the CEO of Curiosity Lab, facilitate “A Model for Empathy” at 7:45 p.m. via Zoom on Sunday, Jan. 16. Students learned how to empathize with others using Tennant’s interactive card game, Actually Curious. 

Continuing through the week, on Monday, Jan. 17 advisory groups watched the movie “Just Mercy,” a 2019 film about a young lawyer named Bryan Stevenson who heads to Alabama to defend those on death row who were wrongfully convicted or could not afford proper legal representation. Virtual students participated in this viewing by watching the movie through the school’s classroom streaming service, Swank. Portia Sockel ’22, a student in Diane Richards’ advisory, described this film as “deep and real.” 

This year Hill started “Courageous Conversations” where advisories gather and talk about serious topics such as racism, disabilities, sexism and more. The movie brought up meaningful discussions in advisories and got students to engage and learn different opinions. 

“I thought the movie as a whole was phenomenal. It is one of those stories that is so captivating and unbelievable that it was difficult to imagine being true. I found myself experiencing emotions I had not felt in a long time: a strange amalgamation of anger, sadness, discomfort, and anxiety for the characters,” Sela Muto ’23, a remote student, stated in a text. “The fact that so many innocent black men were sentenced to years of waiting for their execution day is absurd. How does a system as important as the justice system experience so many failures? The story was beautifully told, and I found the relationship between Johnny D, Herb, and Anthony Ray Hinton so heartwarming, especially after reading about Hinton’s freedom in ‘The Sun Does Shine.’”

After watching the film, many students began counting down the days until they would hear Hinton speak live about his experience via Zoom. When the day finally came, positive feedback was received. Maggie Classon, a 5th form day student, watched the livestream with her mother at home. “Mr. Hinton was an excellent speaker and inspired me to learn more about the death penalty and what I can do, as a member of my community, to help prevent further injustice,” Classon said. “It inspired my mom to want to read his book as well!” 

The week concluded with the “Writing for Social Change” event. The workshop demonstrated how students can help influence social change through letters, articles, reports, public testimony and other forms of writing. Students wrote to local officials on various issues to end MLK week. ​​”The ‘Writing for Social Change’ event was a great introduction to the world of social change through direct action. Dr. Miller did an excellent job of teaching us how to write an effective letter to our representatives,” stated David Slavtcheff ‘24.