New Program at Hollister High School Teaches Empathy

KSMU | By Quinn Wolf

Published October 25, 2019 at 11:45 AM CDT

Principal Terry Jamieson gives his first Tiger Talk to nearly 500 Hollister High School students.

KSMU's Quinn Wolf reports this story, with quotes from Hollister High School Principal Terry Jamieson.

A new program at Hollister High School aims to teach empathy to students and teachers alike.

Tiger Talks are led by the high school principal, Terry Jamieson. They include messages about valuing people, using social media in healthy ways, and having perspective.

“I wanted to offer our students just an empathetic view of the world,” he told KSMU. “What I mean by that is I want them to be able to see the world through other people’s eyes. I want them to hear speakers that are talking about real world issues.”

Jamieson says it’s powerful for students to hear these messages from teachers they already know and identify with.

According to Jamieson, “We as teachers, administrators, educators in general needed to assume the role of speaking transparent to our student body and offer them a little different venue than the day-to-day classroom experience.”

A school spokeswoman, Kim Connell, calls this approach the “Empathy Paradigm,” which fosters empathy in the school culture.

Tiger Talks are held Monday mornings in the high school auditorium and include a variety of speakers.