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Student's Writings
October 9, 2025

FAILURE-SUCCESS…The students were challenged to consider the interaction of these two fundamental realities of life. KARLA…grabs our attention with her opening line, before acknowledging mistakes she regrets but refuses to be taken down by. Failure  I’m one failure away from ruining my life. I mean, I’m about to start doing crack and live on the lonely, dirty streets of Baltimore. I’ll be honest, I don’t know where to start. I thought about it yesterday for a very, very long time and I still don’t really know how to articulate how I feel. I feel like I’m being held hostage by this invisible force that has deprived me from oxygen and is causing me to roll around as if I’m a roach on its back trying to get back on its feet.  I’m kind of still trying to figure out how to say something, without saying anything at all. It’s actually the most difficult thing to do. I’ve been trying to not make my past mistakes happen again. I’m trying really hard to be able to live with them, but there is nothing more difficult than forgiving yourself for past mistakes. It’s even harder to do that if you didn’t hurt just one person, but many.  Now I feel like I’m actively hurting the people around me. It’s a crazy, almost unreal experience to be scared of yourself and your actions. I’m trying really hard to be careful with my words telling you this. I don’t want people to read or hear this story and have pity, I just want people...

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Student's Writings
October 9, 2025

FAILURE-SUCCESS…The students were challenged to consider the interaction of these two fundamental realities of life. KHORI…uses her very mixed feelings over the loss of a special family member to remind us all that in order to help others you must first be able to help yourself. Failure*Success  The definition of failure is the lack of success. Throughout my life I’ve experienced many different forms of failure. I’ve always been the type of person who believed that everyone can change, even when they fail. I thought I was a prime example. If I can fail and keep trying, then surely everyone can, right?  No, I was wrong.  Last year I was a freshman, and I’m sure everyone knows that, when you’re a freshman, you have to show an enormous amount of perseverance.  I expected everyone around me to show the same amount of perseverance ,and this unfortunately led to my demise.  I had a family member that passed away from drug use last year,and I felt the failure she inflicted on herself ,and the rest of the family.  As a kid, I would often see her in a lot of pain. Pain from losing her closest family members from old age ,and  pain from her own failure to stop using drugs. I remember always being in her room, and asking her questions of what she used to be like, how she used to act, and all of her regrets. It’s still hard for me to acknowledge the fact that she’s actually gone.   During her funeral, I was so angry that she...

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News
October 8, 2025

Japanese Calligraphy was the theme of this week's art seminar with special guest artist Kini Collins. Kini learned this art while studying martial arts in Japan.  Each student was given a brush and rice paper and was able to practice various symbols that stood for words.  The students learned the very physical techniques in shaping these words that make each recognizable though unique. The workshop ended with a group project where the students used what they had learned to communicate with each other through their calligraphy. Thank you Kini Collins for your generous sharing of time and talent, and thank you Cheryl Fair for curating this series....

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News
October 8, 2025

Learning ways to resolve conflict and restore relationships was the focus of aa special seminar today.  This Restorative Circles seminar was facilitated by Sister Helene Cook who traveled from Scranton, Pennsylvania to join us at the invitation of Lisa Knickmeyer, her former colleague. In this time that is often immersed in division and alienation, we wanted to give the students an opportunity to talk about the conflict in their lives and share methods they have used to find resolution. This was a deeply personal and meaningful seminar that we hope will lead to more understanding and stronger interpersonal relationships.  Thank you Sister Helene....

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News
October 4, 2025

Journalist, author, screenwriter and extraordinary storyteller, Rafael Alvarez, returned to the school to talk with the students for this week's Conversation series. He started the Conversation by interacting with each student learning about his or her interests and plans while sharing ideas and contacts to support each one. Rafael then fielded a broad range of questions from the students on topics as varied as his travel experiences to his inspiration for writing to the issues of the day. He had taken two trips on merchant ships earlier this year - one across the Atlantic and another across the Pacific.  While he speaking highly of our school, he also said one of the best ways to get an education was to travel and experience places and lives very different from your own. Rafael 's connection with our school goes back nearly 50 years when he was a reporter for the Baltimore Sunpapers. Since that time, he has written many books and also worked in Hollywood writing for television and film including two years on The Wire with David Simon. He reinforced the teaching in the school that everyone has a story and that much is to be learned from taking the time to interact and listen. The students have started reading his book "Don't Count Me Out: A Baltimore Dope Fiend's Miraculous Recovery" as part of their English literature class. We appreciate Rafael's generosity of time with us over the years and for always responding when we ask him to come in to talk with the students. https://baltimoretraces.umbc.edu/projects/greektown/rafael-alvarez/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Alvarez...

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Student's Writings
October 4, 2025

BLINDSPOT…The students were tasked to imagine themselves sitting on a park bench, waiting for a friend, when a blind person suddenly appears and asks the student, “What do you see?” JUDAH…deploys “a Karen” to remind us just how blind humanity can be. Blindspot One summer day this lady, (will call her Karen to paint a picture in your head). Anyway, Karen went out to go meet one of her friends at a park. When she got there, her friend was a bit late. They were supposed to meet at 2:30 but her friend wasn’t there and it was 0.5 seconds after 2:30. As Karen's name suggests, this behavior was unacceptable, so she went to sit on a bench and she sent her friend a long email complaining about how late they were.  I can’t read the email out loud just because it has extremely colorful language not suitable for a school setting. Anyway, 0.02 milliseconds after this long email she was still sitting on a bench when she noticed this blind black dude who looked to be in his late 20s who had dark black sunglasses. The man was holding an ice cream and walking in her direction and she felt unsafe. Karen felt so scared that she gripped her purse so hard that her fake tan lotion started to melt under her sweaty hand. All of a sudden she noticed that one of the white couples in the park got into a fight and the husband started to get physical. Karen thought this was hilarious. What could the...

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Student's Writings
October 4, 2025

The students were tasked to imagine themselves sitting on a park bench, waiting for a friend, when a blind person suddenly appears and asks the student, “What do you see?” JORDAN…starts to answer the question with her eyes, but soon finds herself tapping into the deeper well of her mind and heart. Blindspot Today I decided to go to a park with a friend. It doesn’t matter what park I go to, nor which friend I go with. I just feel like using the swingset the whole time instead of letting a little kid get on. They can cry to their parents all they want, I refuse to move. Anyway, I sat on a random bench in the park closest to my house. I kicked several rocks that were in front of me while I waited for my friend. Suddenly, I hear movement beside me. Turns out somebody sat down on the other side of the bench. I felt a little upset that somebody sat on my bench, until I looked up. The person sitting next to me was blind. They had a white cane with a red stripe, and dark glasses. It was quiet between the two of us for a moment. Then, they asked me a question out of nowhere. “What do you see?” I was confused as to why they asked me that question. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I answered. I told them about the trees swaying in the wind, the chirping of birds, and the countless kids running around. I thought I...

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TCS Student News
October 3, 2025

[embed]https://youtu.be/MSyrjBvSS40[/embed] This edition of TCS Student News gives details about the United Nations annual General Assembly gathering. In news around the school, learn about the recent Conversation with environmentalists Zaire Camino and David Smith, a special art seminar with Christianne Knight, a special spotlight on new student Tallulah Cord better known around the school as Mingo, and our first Financial Literacy Seminar by Berman McAleer. This edition was put together by Kennedy Lewis and Mohamed Cisse with production assistance from Hector Rivas....

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News
September 30, 2025

As part of this weekly effort that introduces the students to a diverse set of Baltimore artists, Christianne Knight came into the school today. Christianne is a fiber artist who shared how she spins fiber into spools that she then uses to make her work.  Each of the students was given a crochet needle and picked out yarn to create a work. For most of the students this was the first time they had ever attempted anything like this. Christianne generously encouraged the students to bring the tools and materials home to continue their work. This was an especially interactive and enjoyable session for the students.  Thank you Christianne and our appreciation to Cheryl Fair for curating these workshops....

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News
September 26, 2025

We had a Conversation with two special environmentalists today - Zaire Camino, a Community Forestry Specialist with the Maryland State Department of Natural Resources, and David Smith, A community Engagement Specialist with Patagonia Baltimore.  Each shared their personal stories of how they became involved in the environmental movement and also talked about their collaboration in Baltimore.  This includes efforts to plant millions of native trees in Maryland and wed our non-native invasive species. They highlighted the many conservation efforts in Baltimore City and the multitude of parks that are accessible to its citizens. both David and Zaire encouraged the students to spend more time outside in nature and also to take steps to create a better environment. Zaire offered to take the students on a special tour of Druid Hill Park just minutes away from the school.  David also offered to return with other representatives of Patagonia to talk about positive workplace culture and the ways they are integrating positive environmental practices into their business model....

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