Harwood’s Jan. 8 Socrates Café asks about time and identity

December 30, 2025 | By Claire Pomer | Correspondent 

How does the passage of time affect identity?

A group of Harwood students sets out to try to solve this question with community members at the next Socrates Café, taking place in the Harwood library on Thursday, Jan. 8, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Each spring, English teachers nominate rising sophomores and juniors to take Harkness Leadership, a semester-long class that trains students to become “leaders in the design and practice of Harkness pedagogy and bring student-driven inquiry to the greater Harwood community.” 

Harkness discussions are student-led and usually focused around a source material. Taught by Adam Sargent, Harkness Leadership teaches students how to “focus on active listening, maintain eye contact, and how to be present in conversations,” according to sophomores Bridan Merrill and Shea Lewis – skills that are critical for participating in and leading these discussions.

Throughout the semester, the class holds discussions on various topics, often focusing on a text read by all students. At the beginning of the school year, Sargent said, he often selected articles for the class to read and discuss, but the discussions have evolved to be more student-driven.

In the corner of the classroom next to the oval table where discussions are held, hangs a poster with several topics listed on it, ranging from the war in Gaza to school redistricting in Vermont. Students suggested current issues that they wanted to discuss as a class and voted for their favorite. After being selected for discussion, students researched the topic – even after discussing educational redistricting, students could still recite the number of school districts in Vermont.

Next to the brainstormed list of current events hangs another poster, this one full of open-ended questions for the Socrates Café, the final class project. Students facilitate the discussions at an event open to the community, putting their skills to use.

During the semester, students are asked to brainstorm questions that are both timeless and timely for these gatherings. They need to be something that can “deepen a discussion without a source or much background information,” said sophomore Lila Pacholek.

Sargent agreed. “We can’t ask community members to come in and read an article for 30 minutes,” he explained. “So the question needs to be more philosophical.” Students voted for the question that they wanted to talk about at the January café and chose, “How does the passage of time affect our identity?”

Senior Aspen Linskey, who took the class last year and is now the teaching assistant, said, “This question will bring a lot of personal opinions. There will be a lot of stories told.”

The class agreed. “I’m excited to see different generations’ perspectives,” Pacholek said.

Sophomore Zoe Legeros added, “People will talk about their personal stories.”

Preparation for the café is challenging for students as it both utilizes the skills they’ve learned and exercises new ones. In the classes leading up to the event, students practice holding discussions without sources, using questions that weren’t chosen for the café. Students have also practiced leading discussions with eighth-grade and ninth-grade classes. It gets us in the groove,” said sophomore Caroline Cox. In class, students will also develop their own plans for facilitating a discussion, including an icebreaker and what Sargent called “nesting questions,” which continue the conversation when it comes to a lull.

Each student also may invite six people to the event, mostly family and friends. “The café is our way of sharing our class and what we’ve been doing with our family and friends,” Cox said.

Students will share a brief history of the Socrates Café tradition at the start of the event. They will then split up into small groups of about 8-10 people each, and students will facilitate group discussions in pairs. At the end, everyone will reflect on the evening as a full group, sharing some takeaways. Refreshments will be provided. The community is invited, and no advance registration is required.

Claire Pomer is a senior from Waterbury at Harwood Union High School.