For the fourth year in a row, Boys’ Latin students in all three divisions have participated in the school’s annual One Laker | One Love Day. The event, which was held this year on April 6, explores the ways that students can build healthier relationships and be ambassadors for positive change.
“We work hard to implement and teach our core values of courage, compassion and integrity each and every day. Through this work, we push our boys toward true excellence with all that they do at school, at home and in the community,” says Megan Kenney, school counselor and faculty co-advisor of the One Laker | One Love Club.
The One Laker | One Love event grew out of a student-led initiative and partnership with the One Love Foundation, which was created by Sharon Love, mother of Yeardley Love, the Baltimore native and University of Virginia student who tragically lost her life at the hands of her former boyfriend in 2010. BL was the first school in the nation to create a student club. Called the One Laker | Love Club, it strives to raise awareness about healthy relationships and the impact of relationship violence.
Each year, the theme of the One Laker | One Love Day has grown from the year prior, yet continuing to focus on the importance of building healthy relationships, embracing a healthier generation of young men and coming together to celebrate differences. Boys’ Latin also continues to strengthen its relationship with the One Love Foundation through its One Laker | One Love Club in the Upper School and organizing educational activities and fundraisers. As a part of this year’s One Laker | One Love Day, students, faculty and families were invited to pledge to #LoveBetter, the most recent One Love campaign promoting healthy relationships.
“We believe conversations like these must start early, and we engage our entire K-12 community in age-appropriate ways,” says Shirelle Flowers, lower and middle school counselor at Boys’ Latin. “Our One Laker | One Love Day is a special time for our community and represents the collective efforts of the Parents’ Association, school administration, students and faculty.”
During this year’s discussions and activities, the lower school focused on choosing kind; the middle school focused on self-care and self-expression; and the upper school heard from friends and teammates of Yeardley Love and learned about the impact that relationship violence has had in their lives.
As a visual representation of the school’s solidarity behind this mission, all students took a break from their small group activities and discussions mid-day to take a one-school aerial photograph.
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