Values Class Uses Journaling To Underscore Academics and Leadership

September 29, 2017

Did you know that Concord, Massachusetts’s literary son Henry David Thoreau visited St. Paul in 1861, just one year before the Dakota War broke out in Minnesota? This life-changing excursion was the only time Thoreau ventured west of his home state. Thoreau traveled up the windy Minnesota River in a steamboat to Redwood Falls, where he witnessed a council meeting and powwow ceremony with important Minnesotans like Governor Ramsey and Chiefs Red Owl and Little Crow.

Unfortunately, Thoreau died from tuberculosis less than a year after his great Minnesota adventure. Had Thoreau lived long enough, his published writings would surely have included his Minnesota travels—with great insights, and maybe even more humane and equitable solutions, regarding the treatment of the native peoples in this country as manifest destiny came to fruition. Today, Thoreau is not only known for his transcendentalism and environmentalism in his most famous book Walden (1854), but he is also known for his impact on civil rights in his essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849).If you are curious about Thoreau and his Minnesota experience, stop in and visit Ms. Jenny Markert, English and Values teacher in B114.

She’s especially enlivened on the topic of Thoreau these days because she was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to join in the seminar entitled “Living and Writing Deliberately: The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry Thoreau.” This summer marked the 200^th anniversary of Thoreau’s birth, July 12, 1817, and his hometown showed their pride for him with much neighborhood fanfare.

Besides getting to frolic in Walden Pond, one of the highlights of the seminar, according to Markert, was the opportunity to travel from Concord to New York City to the JP Morgan Library and Museum where she saw many of Thoreau’s journals up close and on display. She and her cohort were privileged to a behind-the-scenes talk with the exhibit’s curator about preserving and displaying the journals, along with several of Thoreau’s personal items from the exhibit.  This exhibit marks the first time that the literary artifacts from his lifetime were brought together and displayed.

Journaling in Values Class

In addition to his impact on history and literature, Thoreau was a dedicated journal writer. As a way to honor, and hopefully pass along, the mighty inspiration he has given his audiences throughout the world and over time, Markert has brought journaling to the forefront in teaching Values, with the support of her team, social studies teacher Ms. Christina DeVos and religion teacher Mr. Joe Moss.

Students write in journals daily, exploring innovative ways to, as Thoreau himself would say, “honor the self as a primary source.” According to Markert, “Two of our CDH Values are academics and leadership, and to me, that means we must practice introspection and disciplined writing habits, especially in Value's class.” 

She’s pretty sure Thoreau would be proud to watch her students busily scribbling down their thoughts as she is, knowing that the seeds to great changes in the self and in the world often begin as little whispers of thought in the minds of those willing to take the time to listen within and record what they hear.