Colleen Devine ’13
On the weekend of November 16th, the Ignatian Teach-In was in full force. Mr. Lester, Madame Davis, ten seniors, and one brave freshman ventured to Washington D.C. for this conference. The Ignatian Family Teach-In is based around remembering victims of Salvadoran soldiers who had received training at the U.S. Army School of the Americas.1,200 Jesuit students and teachers from around the nation came together to remember these martyrs on the 26th anniversary of their death. This year, the priority advocacy topic included domestic poverty, humane immigration reform, and sustainable environmental practices.
Andrew Herman ‘13 represented Prep’s recent change in the method it buys clothing, and urged other Jesuit schools to adopt the same policy. Prep moved to a sweat free policy on November 15th, meaning that it only buys clothing from factories that pay their workers acceptable wages.
This year, Andrew and Mr. Lester hosted a session that described Prep’s new policy indepth. With a roaring number of attendees, this breakout session could be considered a great success. Other popular breakout sessions included presentations against the death penalty and promoting awareness of global warming and its immediate impacts. On the last night of the Teach-In, all the students and teachers gathered at the capitol and read off the names of the martyrs killed by SOA (School of the Americas) trained soldiers. After the gathering, the Prep squad moved to the White House to attend a Kony 2012 rally. However, they were misinformed and ended up missing the rally.
On Monday the 26th, the Prep delegation headed to the capital to advocate the issues outlined in the Ignatian Teach-In. They met with representatives from the offices of Jim McDermott and Patty Murray. Jack Kimbro, senior, led these meetings and offered new perspectives on old issues. He discussed his disapproval of drones, the issues surrounding Guantanamo detainees, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the Dream Act. The representatives agreed with the Prep students on almost all of their points and promised to pass their points on to the Patty and Jim. After these meetings the students tapped into their congressional side and posed for a picture in front of Congress. They left the Capitol late Monday night and returned to rainy old Seattle, but not before a truly terrifying plane ride.