A Day of Joyful Connection

Commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a celebration of community.

On the snowy morning of January 19, The Governor’s Academy faculty took the stage inside the Wilkie Center for the Performing Arts and showed off their rhythm as they followed along with West African dance moves led by Ammaya Dance and Drum. The reaction from the student body was electric. The performance was just one part of the school’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, organized by Dean of Community & Belonging Michelle de la Guardia.

The early hour, winter weather, and exhaustion from exam week made for sleepy students, and de la Guardia knew she needed something interactive to combat that. “I wanted to bring high energy to the morning to set the tone for the rest of the day,” she says. Before the drummers took the stage, the morning kicked off with a performance of Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” by the Govs a cappella group. Then, four student leaders shared what MLK Day means to them, starting with Magezi Nkugwa ’27. “To me, this day is so much more than just a remembrance of a great man with a vision of an ideal America, but a reminder of the responsibilities we have as a community,” Nkugwa said. “Our differences should not be ignored, but rather accepted and given space to exist.”

The second student speaker, Cat Johnson ’26, spoke about how Dr. King did not preach to ignore racial differences, but instead strive to understand them. “Not only does the idea of colorblindness prevent many from acknowledging the systemic challenges that black Americans and other people of color in the United States have faced, and continue to face, it also hinders cultural appreciation,” Johnson said.

Renee Tse ’26 spoke next and reminded the audience that Dr. King’s legacy is not only in his speeches, but in the adversity he faced and the challenges he overcame. “MLK Day is not just a celebration of how far we’ve come, but a measure of how far we still have to go,” she said. “It is a call to resist indifference, to see dignity as non-negotiable, and to understand that equality delayed is equality denied. Do we choose comfort, or do we choose responsibility? Progress has never come from waiting for the right time.”

The final student speaker, Juliana Lucero ’26, related Dr. King’s writings to her own experience living as a first-generation Latina in America. “Today reminds me that there is hope for change, and that I, and this generation, are a part of that change.”

Addressing the crowd, de la Guardia said that her role and the role of all adults in the Govs community is to help every student feel seen, safe, and valued, and that the events of the day would represent just one step in the ongoing work towards inclusion. “I’m grateful to be part of a community that’s willing to keep learning and growing together,” she said. She then welcomed Ammaya Dance and Drum to the stage, telling the crowd it was a chance for everyone to ground themselves in movement, rhythm, and joy before moving into the day’s workshops. “Community isn’t just something we talk about, it’s something we feel in our bodies,” de la Guardia said.

When master drummer Issa Coulibaly of Mali, West Africa, came on stage, the students immediately engaged with shouts and whistles of appreciation. He was soon joined by three additional drummers and three dancers wearing brightly colored clothing and infectious smiles. After their first number, dancer and group co-leader Tara Murphy shared that her mother was on the National Mall for MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and then spoke about African American culture’s influence on broader American culture. “African American culture is oftentimes the voice of truth in America, shining the light and showing us through the African American experience, where we, as Americans, are not living up to our ideals,” she said. “We need to continue to work together for freedom for all.”

When Murphy asked for volunteers to try their hand at drumming, 17 students rushed to the front, jumping over one another to grab seats behind a traditional Djembe drum. Later, 26 students eagerly tried to emulate the group’s dance moves. “Seeing the kids on stage, kids that you normally wouldn’t see on stage, brought me so much joy because the purpose of the whole day was for kids to get out of their comfort zone, try something new, realize that they matter, and realize that we care about each of them,” de la Guardia says. “Regardless of your background, you belong in this school.” Finally, Murphy surprised everyone by calling the faculty to the stage. At the end of the rousing performance, de la Guardia returned to thank the students and encourage continued engagement in the workshops to come.

The day's lineup included 22 workshops for students to choose from during morning and afternoon time blocks. Interactive sessions included beatboxing, step dancing, and improvisational games. More formal talks ranged from a discussion of how inequities show up in sports to exploring why certain communities face disproportionate environmental harm, to a talk by FBI Special Agent Ted Docks on his journey into public service and what it means to work with purpose.

Between sessions, students ate lunch—the menu was inspired by Dr. King’s favorite Atlanta restaurant—with their advisory groups to talk about their day so far. “Every kid was having a totally different experience,” de la Guardia says. “Advisory was a great time for the kids to talk to the adults and debrief about what they experienced, but also listen to one another so they were not just in a silo.” At Monica Kirschmann’s advisory group, one student shared her experience from City Councilor for Newburyport Jennie Donahue’s session titled “Beyond Sight: Justice, Access, and Belonging”. The student said she was surprised to learn about how helpful AI can be for people with vision loss in navigating the world. Another student who attended “Pulling & Pushing Polaroids: Creative Reflection & Perspective,” hosted by Govs photography teacher Cheryle St. Onge, said the process of transferring a polaroid photo to paper reminded her that slowing down can help her see things from a different perspective.

After lunch, students attended a second workshop of their choice before returning to the Wilkie Center for the Performing Arts to again celebrate as a community. Alumna Destiny Gonzalez ’20 invited any students who had participated in her “Move the Dream: Hip Hop Jam Session” to join her on stage to perform their new routine to Wreckx-n-Effect’s “Rump Shaker”, to cheering from their classmates. Then, ENVY, an all-femme competitive step team from Tufts University, performed a piece choreographed around showing up as oneself. Afterwards, Gonzalez returned to the stage with her community hip-hop group for a powerful, energetic medley of performances.

The day's closing echoed the same high energy it began with and fulfilled de la Guardia’s vision of a joyful day for reflection and community celebration. “I think that’s the message of MLK, that we all should be together to create this beloved community,” she says. “I wanted to bring that spirit into the day — joy with music, movement, and creativity, but also engagement with meaningful, deep conversations.”