Lise's Lens: October 8, 2026
This week, I read an article about the Norfolk Botanical Garden, reflected on an interesting museum exhibit, and watched student leaders take action in support of an important cause.
WHAT I'M READING
I recently found this article in The Washington Post about the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, VA, and its new memorial honoring the Black workers who helped build and cultivate it. Before reading about this, I knew nothing about the garden, but it is now at the top of my list to visit. What really caught my attention is how the institution chose to address and move forward from a darker chapter of its history. Seeing an institution take a meaningful step towards recognizing the labor and dignity of workers whose contributions were long overlooked is deeply moving.
WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT
An Illuminating Museum Exhibit in Montreal
On a recent visit to Montreal, I stopped at a small museum in a historic home in the Vieux Port. Much of the collection was what I expected — early Montreal maquettes, maps, Indigenous artifacts, and the history of the home and its owners. What I didn’t expect was an exhibit celebrating 250 years of American independence!
Montreal, then the capital of the British-controlled Province of Quebec, was occupied by American troops from November 1775 to June 1776, and this home I was visiting served as their headquarters. An American delegation from the Continental Congress even traveled to Montreal to invite “the oppressed inhabitants of the Province of Quebec” to join the rebellion. The troops, who had come up from Boston, became known as the Bostonnais.
The British responded by passing the Quebec Act, granting the province significant rights, including protections for Catholicism, the French language, and French civil law. Interestingly, the Canadian interpretation is that the failure to bring Quebec into the rebellion helped push the Americans toward a more radical idea: rather than simply expanding the thirteen colonies to fourteen, they began moving toward full independence from Britain.
WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO
Today’s Student-Led Walkout for Survivors of Sexual Assault
Today, students from IDEA Committee (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action) and Feminist Coalition (aka FemCo) organized a walkout to show their support for survivors of sexual assault. At 12:01 p.m., students departed early from classes and convened on the quad. FemCo heads Chloe ’28 and Emily ’28 shared a brief statement before leading participants in a 92-second moment of silence, drawing attention to the statistic that every 92 seconds another American is sexually assaulted.
Seeing these young leaders stand up so courageously for what matters to them is deeply inspiring, and they deserve immense credit for bringing the community together in such an organized, peaceful, and thoughtful way. While it is deeply disheartening that a need for this kind of protest still exists in our world today, their solidarity and sense of purpose offer a powerful reminder of how meaningful change begins.
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
Students in Tom Pettengill’s "Principles of Ecology" class recently traveled to Cat Rock Park to collect data for their biodiversity projects. I love when our students are able to take advantage of our incredible natural surroundings. We are so fortunate to have this access.
CSW — a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12 and PG — is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.