Philanthropy can be broadly defined as love for humankind. It is derived from the Greek words “philos,” which means loving and “anthropos,” which means humankind. A person who practices philanthropy is called a philanthropist . I am taking this opportunity to acknowledge the philanthropists of Plato Academy. Young children who see a need in the community and rise to the challenge of addressing that need in a very real way!

A number of years ago, I became familiar with the St. Baldrick’s organization through my daughter, who was an anesthesia resident at Rush Medical College at the time and became a chairperson of their event. I introduced the event to our middle school students and initially they held a bake sale to raise money for the cause. The following year, those same middle school students attended the St. Baldrick’s event sponsored by Notre Dame High School. They came back to school saying, “We could do that here!”  That is when The Plato St. Baldrick’s event was born! Since then, our event has raised tens of thousands of dollars for pediatric cancer research, and has also raised awareness and brought in young cancer survivors for us to meet, befriend, and honor. Each of these events starts with the passion of a single volunteer who is willing to shave their head or cut off their ponytail to provide wigs for children touched by cancer. The passion that these young Plato students have shown for compassion and caring is remarkable.

You may ask, “What does social justice have to do with education? Social justice education has the ability to help students develop their critical thinking and questioning skills while also developing soft skills such as empathy, compassion, as well as a desire to get involved in their communities. Social justice education is at the core of what we do at Plato. It is the highest level of curriculum theory…it is Praxis, which means informed, committed practice. What we learn in school, leads us to how we can use that knowledge to impact the world in some small way. It’s the Plato way!