Community & Belonging

Engagement Opportunities: What's Happening

“Raising Voices” is an oratorical competition that invites students to perform a monologue that both honors and “raises” a marginalized voice for others to hear. “Raising Voices” aims at engaging high school students currently enrolled in The Woodstock Academy and neighboring communities with the language of empowerment. Marginalized people in America utilize this language to ignite and propel social progress towards a more inclusive experience of the American ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity. As the next generation of speakers and writers, we are encouraging students to engage with voices who share a history of being muffled, silenced, or muted based on an element of their identity (age, race, sexuality, gender, religion, politics, etc). This is meant to be an opportunity for self-expression as much as it is a mission to elevate those who have been too often silenced or dismissed.

The theme for the second annual 2025 “Raising Voices” Oratorical Competition explores the power of the female voice in our communities and all the ways that the journey towards its empowerment has helped to shape our identities. 

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Mary L. Romney-Schaab, author of the book, An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: From Papiamentu to German, visited The Woodstock Academy twice as she was featured in 2024 author series. During her visits, Romney-Schaab presented her book and historical information she captured about her father, Lionel Romney, and his wartime experiences being a Black man imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. 

Throughout her presentation, Mrs. Romney-Schaab emphasized the importance of not only capturing stories to stay away from the danger of single narrative story, but the importance of oral history, and finding ways to capture family history. 

At the end of her presentation, students were able to ask questions and listen to the tape recording of conversations with her father about his experiences before passing away.

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As part of WA’s year-round Community & Belonging work, here are some recommended podcasts centered on Black voices:

The 1619 Project: Produced by the New York Times, WA’s Director of Community Engagement, Mr. Washington, describes it as “the best podcast series on Black culture & identity.”

Black History Year: Short, daily episodes featuring lesser-known aspects of Black history

Code Switch: Weekly episodes hosted by journalists of color, centered on “fearless conversations about race”

Why Race Matters: Producer and host Angela Fitzgerald leads conversations with people committed to the cause of achieving racial equity

Historically Black: A limited series published by the Washington Post in 2016, featuring the personal histories that make up one exhibit in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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The American Classics Repertory Company staged a production of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean in WA's Bates Auditorium. The play is the first in August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of ten plays set in Pittsburgh's Hill District during various decades in the 20th century. Gem of the Ocean centers on Citizen Barlow's struggle for redemption as he seeks guidance from the wise Aunt Ester and discovers his true self. In addition to an in-school performance of select scenes for the entire junior class, players performed four shows for the community-at-large.

 

 

In March, three women-led galleries in the Quiet Corner celebrated Women's History Month. Kicking off the exhibit openings was Loos Center for the Arts, followed by The Corridor Gallery and Silver Circle Gallery, both in Putnam, CT.  On display; 24 artists works told the stories of women  through painting, mixed media, ceramic sculpture, textiles, and contemporary dance. 

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Students from WA and local schools were invited to Warriors Don't Cry at Loos Center for the Arts. Warrior’s Don’t Cry is the one-woman play that dramatizes Melba Patillo Beal’s searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock’s central high, through the lens of a contemporary young activist. 

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More than 1,600 students from WA and local schools attended Rhapsody in Black at Loos Center for the Arts. This inspiring one-man show follows writer and performer LeLand Gantt’s journey to understand and eventually transcend racism in America. Audiences were moved by his captivating storytelling and appreciative of the important conversations his performance sparked. 

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The Gallery at Loos Center for the Arts opened Reflections, an exhibit featuring contemporary sculpture and drawings from artist Faustin Adeniran. His work is influenced by his experiences in Lagos, Nigeria and New Haven, CT, and it tells the story of his journey to achieve artistic freedom. The exhibit was free and open to the community. 

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The Woodstock Academy has partnered with The National Conference of Community and Justice (NCCJ) for our Community & Belonging  Summer Institute. NCCJ is a human relations organization based out of Middletown, CT that promotes inclusion and acceptance by providing education and advocacy and building communities that are respectful and just for all. Teachers, administrators, and staff members spent two days building skills on identities, developing foundational work on race and racism, learning how to handle courageous conversation, and action planning for WA’s future. NCCJ did an amazing job pushing the room to be vulnerable while learning. The work that was done was not easy, but it was well worth it!