Author: Milton Magazine

Milton students in several humanities classes join those from six other Massachusetts schools in studying climate change and climate justice through the humanities during this year’s Humanities Workshop. Teachers from the participating schools decided to focus on climate issues because they permeate so many aspects of life, including economic and racial inequality, human migration, and public health. “There is a sense that climate change is just a science problem, which of course is not the case—it’s a human problem,” says Milton faculty member Alisa Braithwaite. “If our climate dies, so do we. We wanted to bring the concepts of humanities disciplines together to create a narrative that helps people to see that climate change is an urgent, human problem—one that we should be learning about and fighting for from every corner of our world.” The Humanities Workshop is a yearlong academic project conducted by a consortium of Boston-area public, charter, and private schools. Braithwaite and Lisa Baker, both Milton English teachers, founded the workshop in 2017 as a way to affirm the humanities’ role in tackling urgent social issues. This is the second cycle; the first centered on issues of economic inequality. “Under the umbrella of climate, students can tackle so many different topics, from how climate change relates to inequality, to public health issues like the pandemic, to migration as a result of climate change,” Baker says. “You...

Typically a busy hub for study and research, Cox Library needed a plan to serve the community through this year’s remote and hybrid learning phases. Milton’s librarians went to work finding creative ways to operate. When Milton first went remote last spring, it “coincided with the start of the history department’s ‘research season,’” says Laura Pearle, the library’s director. “We created a portal that included a chat box so that students looking for library assistance could talk with a librarian from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Students from all over the United States, China, and Europe contacted us for help with citations, using the databases, and general help on various topics.” Over the summer, the librarians (Pearle, Beth Reardon, Joanna Novick, and Mitchell Edwards) participated in professional development; attended numerous webinars about books, providing remote services, and tech tools for remote learning; and participated in online discussions with their peers nationwide on providing service with a closed facility. They started a library newsletter to promote new resources and remind people of existing ones. The librarians also added SORA, an ebook service, and curbside pickup for the print collection. Students can reserve books online and pick them up from a table in front of the library. For Middle School students, books are delivered to...