Manley Hosts Harvard-Bound Bolingbrook Grad Discussions with Avelar, Noak, and Bertino-Tarrant
- Natalie Manley
- Sep 2
- 3 min read
ROMEOVILLE, IL. – After hearing an impressive presentation by a Harvard-bound Bolingbrook High School grad on teaching civil discourse in classrooms, State Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, hosted Rep. Dagmara Avalar, D-Bolingbrook, Senator Meg Loughran Cappel, D-Shorewood, Romeoville Mayor John Noak, along with their staffs and interns to join the discussion Wednesday.
Under Manley’s leadership, these educators, legislators, community leaders and students from both sides of the aisle discussed ways to teach kids how to better listen and respect other people’s opinions, particularly in today’s highly polarized political climate.
Miriam Tsegay, a former intern for Manley, presented “Civil Discourse in K-12 Schools, Cultivating America’s Next Generation of Democratically-minded Citizens.” She was inspired by having worked as a U.S. Senate page on Capitol Hill her junior year in high school, in addition to her time interning with Manley.
“Civil discourse is not simply politeness in the face of difficult conversations and differing viewpoints,” Tsegay said. “Civil discourse is the ability to listen and learn,” she said.
She cited studies about America’s current political climate, and polarization of negative attitudes, which are happening among both Republicans and Democrats.
This meeting was the result of Manley’s commitment to bringing educators and legislators together after having been deeply inspired by Tsegay’s presentation last month. Cappel is a former special education teacher, and current chair of the Illinois Senate Education Committee. Bertino-Tarrant is a life-long educator, former Will County Regional Superintendent of Schools and state senator.
"Bringing Miriam’s research to the attention of other legislators and educators has been an important next step on how to effect positive change in the way we all discuss politically-charged topics," Manley said. “Hearing the opinions of everyone in the room, including student interns, served to help us all broaden our communication in a politically-charged environment.”
Critical thinking, active listening, and clear communication are skills already outlined by the Illinois State Board of Education, Tsegay explained. Taking the discussion a step further, Tsegay recommended ways schools could implement “LAPP” skills championed by non-profit Braver Angels whose mission is to bridge the partisan divide.
LAPP refers to listen, acknowledge, pivot and perspective. These skills teach kids not to necessarily convince others of their opinions, but instead how to respect people with opposing opinions, she said.
Tsegay discussed ways these skills can be taught as early as first grade and applied across various subjects, including math, science, English and history. For example, students could use LAPP to discuss many ways a formula could be applied in a math class, or debate the practicality of a scientific hypothesis in science class, she said.
“Interns like Miriam play an important role in my state office, not only what they contribute to our district constituents and Illinois residents, but also what they take into their future, which benefits us all,” Manley said.
Tsegay's project was part of her senior year research capstone program called Illinois Global Scholars (IGS), an initiative that allows students to explore a global topic, gain insight into related problems and take action to create a solution.
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