Lise's Lens: April 25, 2024
It will not surprise you to learn that yesterday’s Earth Day festivities have been very much on my mind. This week, I also share a very honest book review!
WHAT I’M READING
- I just finished reading Julia Alvarez’s latest book The Cemetery of Untold Stories. Let me first admit that my dream of being able to write fiction or even non fiction will most likely never happen, thus I admire anyone who has the perseverance and determination, and even more the capacity to write beautifully. This makes me loathe to give any negative feedback to anyone who has a book out there. Yet here I go. I think the book has an interesting start but with absolutely banal writing. Almost something from a middle school writing assignment… I was frankly shocked. However, the novel picks up and the characters and plot dance well with each other — and thank goodness for magical realism of sorts or this wouldn’t have worked. But that’s Alvarez’s forte. A special nod goes out to her effort of making reality out of the Haitian and Dominican issues and history. Even if ever so lightly, she hits the mark. It’s worth the read, but I’d wait until it comes in paperback.
WHAT I’M THINKING/TALKING ABOUT
- At CSW, we observe Earth Day with a mix of learning and doing. Our keynote and special guests for this week were the inspiring folks from Our Children’s Trust, a groundbreaking nonprofit organization that empowers youth to secure their legal rights to a life-sustaining climate. You can learn more about their visit here. Our learning also involved a variety of student-organized workshops (one of which was led by my husband Garry, who recently retired from a career at the World Bank, where he focused on sustainable development). I also had the privilege of stopping into a number of other workshops, and I was so impressed and inspired by what I saw. What an incredible day!
WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO
- I am watching YOUTH v GOV, the Netflix documentary that tells the story of the Juliana v. The United States of America case and features this week’s special guests from Our Children’s Trust! If you weren’t able to attend any of our events this week, this moving film will give you a little taste of what we experienced. It’s impossible to walk away and not feel driven to take action in some way.
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
The Sustainability Committee hosted a lunchtime chat with our special guests this week. It’s pretty amazing that our kids had this opportunity to connect so directly with these incredible changemakers.
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.