Philip McNeal Leadership Program

In an effort to enrich our Integrated Ethics curriculum, MKA annually hosts publicly recognized professionals who have made a distinguished contribution in their fields to speak to the entire Upper School student body about their unique, personal leadership journeys. Students are exposed to new perspectives and different cultures to further develop their cultural competencies, a critical skill of successful leadership. The school will incorporate the speaker’s themes into ethics programming and curriculum, and identify opportunities for larger community discussion and engagement through clubs, advisor groups, and affinity groups.

In this ninth-grade seminar, students start to construct their “story.” The course begins by asking students to consider who they are as individuals, what is important to them, and what biases  and cultural constructs might inform how they interact with their small and large communities. Students consider, “Who am I and who am I hoping to become?” and “What does it mean to be a member of a community?” Students share their own stories to recognize how they can uniquely foster a culture of belonging in MKA’s community and beyond, and to begin considering, “How am I contributing? How am I serving as a leader?” In addition to activities and reflections, students participate in a culminating design challenge, in partnership with a team of classmates, to address a current challenge facing the community.

This course, required for all tenth-grade students, expands upon the themes introduced in Ethical Leadership Lab 1: Belonging and Community. During the first half of this course, the emphasis is on developing a personal set of ethical principles by which to live. Students consider, “What is your core? What do you stand for?” The second component challenges students to consider how to stand up for those ethical principles and values as leaders at MKA and in the larger community. They contemplate, “What does Ethical Leadership mean? What might Ethical Leadership look like for you?” In addition to activities and reflections, students complete a culminating assignment exploring the connections between ethics, service, and leadership.

Black History Month programming has been expanded and strengthened, from Monday Meeting programming to community discussions and Allyship Workshops. Individuals and organizations have been invited to partner in this programming, including a panel of Yale University students who came to to talk about their experiences as minority students at a historically white institution and Keri Gray, founder of the Keri Gray Group, to present on “Black, Disabled Lives Matter” among others.

The Upper School’s Community Day Film Festival provides dedicated time and space to explore and learn about issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion and celebrate the diversity within our own community. Students and faculty screen films which encourage discussion and connect to themes supporting work the community has been engaged with in a given year, especially concepts such as intersectionality and being a change agent. After watching a film and spending time in reflection, students, faculty, and staff come together in Conversation Circles to talk about what lessons they might take as individuals and as a community.

May Term at MKA serves as the final stop in seniors’ ethical leadership journey at MKA. Six programs – Community Engagement, Creative Inquiry, Teaching Internships, Internships, Global Experience, and Startup 101 – provide transformative experiences that bridge the gap between self-discovery and positive social impact. May Term reflects MKA’s highest aspirations for each graduating class: it offers students some of the freedom they will experience in the future, encourages them to pursue a passion, asks them to take responsibility for their own learning, and empowers them to purposefully engage with the world.

Monday Meetings, Tuesday Talks, and Special Programming Months: MKA offers a variety of opportunities for community members to come together each week and throughout the year. Weekly Monday Meetings provide students with a platform to not only provide updates to the community, but also to participate in special Student Shares. Our Tuesday Talks allow internal faculty to share about their experiences, outside speakers/presenters to educate community members on issues of diversity, equity, and antiracism, and special performances.

MKA values the integration of classroom learning and real-world experience. As we prepare our students to live and work in the 21st Century, we strive to “engage each student personally and intellectually with the world,” as our Mission Statement suggests. In addition to offering global travel opportunities, we offer the community a number of different ways to engage with world issues here at home. In February 2021, for example, we offered a Global Explorations Virtual Series: Purpose and Adaption, in which all community members had the opportunity to hear from speakers around the world and to explore, through hands-on workshops, different aspects of their culture and identity.