Foxborough High School Teacher Training
On January 10, 2014, Foxborough High School (FHS) lost a special student, Sam Berns, who lived for seventeen years with a rare disease, progeria. Sam, who stars in the HBO documentary Life According to Sam, conceived his own philosophy for living a happy life, principles that he shared publicly in a talk at TEDxMidAtlantic three months before he passed away. In October 2014 we led a day-long training for teachers of the Foxborough school district to launch a year-long community weaving project at FHS celebrating Sam’s life and legacy. We equipped them with a prepared loom, spinning equipment, special paper and instructional videos. Their project incorporates individual responses to Sam’s Philosophy for a Happy Life:
1. Be OK with what you ultimately can’t do, because there is so much you CAN do.
2. Surround yourself with people you want to be around.
3. Keep moving forward.
4. Never miss a party if you can help it.
In addition to the weaving, Graphic Design students scanned the original artwork and writing of each participant, to be published in a book that will reside in the school’s media center. We returned to FHS in June 2015 to help the community remove their weaving from the loom and celebrate the completion of the project together.
Video credits: Bailey Collins, Director, Editor – FHS Class of 2015 / Assistant Camera: Jess Bridges – FHS Class of 2015
This project was made possible through a generous grant from FACES: Foxborough, A Community Enriching Schools.
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