Celebrating Dr. Jane Goodall's Appearance at Burke's
October 13 was an extraordinary day at Burke’s. Dr. Jane Goodall, the groundbreaking environmental conservationist who redefined how humans understand animal behavior, spoke to our students at two separate assemblies.
Starting with Lower School students and continuing with the Upper School, Dr. Goodall spoke extensively about her time working with chimpanzees in Tanzania, sharing stories of specific primates and even teaching students how to say hello in the unique chimpanzee language. (Her stuffed chimpanzee, Mr. H, accompanied her to the podium. He has traveled with her to 65 countries.)
She also shared details about Roots & Shoots, the organization she founded in 1991 to empower young people with the tools to make change in their local communities. A pair of third graders shared their grade level’s Roots & Shoots project — a letter-writing campaign to corporations to help clear ocean pollution. Students also took full advantage of the Q&A session, asking thoughtful questions such as “Why did you leave the chimpanzees?” (The answer: She had to leave in order to do the kind of heavy-duty work it would take to save them.)
In the end, it was incredibly powerful to demonstrate to Burke’s students how much of a difference one woman can make. Dr. Goodall first found inspiration for her storied career as a young girl, devouring books about wild animals and hoping to one day live like Tarzan and Dr. Doolittle — not so different, we're sure, than some of the dreams our Burke's girls currently harbor.
Many thanks to John Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell for their assistance in bringing Dr. Goodall to the Burke’s campus!