Page 129 - Carrollton 2019

The Intermediate School presented Merit Awards with Head Master, Olen Kalkus. Students are
recognized for effort, achievement and living the Sacred Heart Goals

Introduced by Mary Ann Baker

In December, I urged my students to participate in The New York Times Learning Network's
Connections Contest, in which students were challenged to “link something they were studying
in school with the world today.” Gabriela Garity chose to link what we were studying in class,
Plato's “The Allegory of the Cave,” with an opinion piece on climate change from the Times. The
Learning Network received over 2000 submissions - 10 winners, 20 runner ups, and honorable
mentions were announced. Gabriela's essay was recognized as a runner-up in this contest An
excerpt of her essay was published in the NYT on Thursday, March 7.

Making Connections: 53 Teenagers Suggest Creative Ways to Link School Curriculum to the
World of 2019

Gabriela Garity, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Miami, Fla.: Plato's "Allegory of the Cave”
and "Climate Denial Was the Crucible for Trumpism"

The deadliest wildfire in history, the costliest hurricane ever to hit the United States, and multiple
exhortatory reports from the world's leading experts seemed to have no effect on the most
powerful man in the world's belief that climate change is a "gigantic hoax.” It does not require a
scientific degree to notice that as carbon emissions, deforestation, and pollution have increased,
so have global temperatures and natural disasters. Why, in our abundance of knowledge, do those
in power turn their backs to the truth? Paul Krugman, author of "Climate Denial Was the Crucible
for Trumpism,” says the reason is a combination of "corruption, willful ignorance, conspiracy
theorizing and intimidation." Examining the relationship between knowledge and politics, Plato in
his 'Allegory of the Cave” presents a similar list of reasons: lack of sense of duty, private interests,
and corrupt political ambition.
In Plato's allegory, a group of prisoners chained inside a cave, unable to turn their heads to look around, have spent their entire lives believing that the shadows in
front of them are "real” objects. One prisoner escapes and enters the world of light, recognizing that his life in the cave lacked objective truth. When he informs the
other prisoners of his findings and attempts to liberate them, they threaten to put him to death. Plato applies his allegory to politics, demonstrating how the truth is
sacrificed in favor of political gain. Sound familiar?