What makes you feel proud at school?

This year’s Middle School Day of No Silence started with a reflection from Oliver Joukowsky, who graduated from Gordon in 2013.
 

Gordon began recognizing this day in 2006, originally established by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network as the Day of Silence, with Middle School students choosing to remain silent for the day to protest the invisibility of the LGBTQ+ community.
 

Oliver talked about growing up queer back then, explaining that “the late 2000s through mid 2010s were a period where the public perception of queer people was exponentially increasing. This increased perception did not come with any increased protection from the rampant homophobia and transphobia that was already present. Gay marriage was yet to be legalized, people didn’t even acknowledge bisexuality, and being casually homophobic and outwardly transphobic was the norm.”
 

Oliver stayed all day.
 

He got to see how Gordon’s culture, and Gordon’s Day of Silence, has evolved over the past twenty years.
 

Soon after 2006, Gordon moved away from the idea of a full day of silence, renaming it the Day of Silence and Noise, a change that the national movement caught up with a few years later. 
 

This year, Gordon's twentieth celebration of this day was a joyful, interdisciplinary set of workshops that center the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community, at Gordon and in the world.
 

There were history lessons, beginning with the one Oliver presented.
 

There were conversations of current events, as students talked about transgender participation in youth sports and recent decisions by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League.
 

There were discussions of activism, and how to be an effective ally.
 

Conversations about allyship got direct and practical, covering everyday challenges like how to apologize for a poor choice of words.
 

And throughout the day, there was art:
 

Visual art
 

Literature
 

And performance
 

Including a vogue lesson from the team at the Haus of Glitter.
 

And playfulness and joy was threaded through it all.
 

There were ways for younger students to participate, as well.
 

A conversation about visibility drove a math lesson in second grade.
 

Middle School students led mini-workshops for Lower School.
 

And everyone was invited to the Pride parade that closed the day.
 

Middle Schoolers circled the school.
 

Younger students lined up to cheer them on.
 

Some had simple messages to share.
 

Some had messages that worked on more than one level.
 

That morning, Oliver had told the Middle School:
 

My decision to loudly and bold be myself is the reason that I’m standing in front of you all today. 
 

Every day is an opportunity to be your truest self, and to work towards a world where that is our normal. 
 

Every day is a chance to play and discover both who we are and what we can do. 

 

My time at Gordon gave me a freedom to grow and explore, creating a lot of the foundation of myself in a safe and open environment. 
 

Having teachers around who saw a me I couldn’t even fathom yet to nurture and guide me is part of why I am the person I am. 
 

That freedom and that guidance is something Gordon strives to give every student, every day.

 

Days like the Middle School Day of No Silence help hold the school to that shared goal.

 

Dozens more photos from the day