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Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

 

The Strawberry Hill Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee is a group of Strawberry Hill parents and teachers that help plan initiatives in our school community that foster inclusivity, diversity and equity. These concepts encompass more than race, and ethnicity. It also includes gender, age, sexual orientation, students with disabilities, etc. It is a model of inclusivity that is part of the fabric of our school culture. Our goals are centered around the following: 

  1. Develop inclusivity, promoting our commonalities and valuing differences

  2. Develop International mindedness amongst all of our school community

  3. Make our PTO more inclusive, diverse and representative of our school community

The tenets of equity and inclusion are naturally part of the International Baccalaureate philosophy. This quote captures the importance of our awareness, our connections, our responsibility, particularly in being internationally minded. 

“International-mindedness is a view of the world in which people see themselves connected to the global community and assume a sense of responsibility to its members. Internationally-minded people appreciate and value the diversity of cultures in the world and make an effort to learn more about them. They exhibit personal concern for people all around the world, and this manifests itself in a sense of moral responsibility to other people, and a commitment to the values of a community.” – Dr. Chris Muller

The following is some of the work that our school community was already involved in prior to the development of the committee.

What have we been doing as a School Community already?

  1. Participated in a reading of We Got This By Cornelius Minor (Spring 2018) a text on Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be.

  2. Staff members were invited to read Being The Change by Sara K. Ahmed Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension (Summer/Fall 2019)

  3. Administration presented in August 2019 to the Administrative District Team on Equity and Identity and then presented to all Staff. Support texts purchased (Emmanuel’s Dream) and shared with staff. 

  4. Strawberry Hill has incorporated more inclusive literacy texts that are representative of our students and have relevance to ALL.

    1. IB Unit of Inquiry books purchased and Library books featuring diverse authors and topics

    2. Incorporate diverse authors in Read Across America Day

  5. Summer 2020 All staff invited to read and participate in discussion on How To Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

  6. Staff encouraged to watch PBS series on antiracist tools. Staff presentation (August PD) to address equity and social justice

We are continuing this work through the DEI Committee in the following ways:

MAY IS ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER (AAPI) HERITAGE MONTH

Virtual AAPI Libraries

In honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in May, the Rogers International School’s Anti-Racism Committee created lower and upper school virtual libraries to elevate the voices, stories, cultural traditions, and contributions of the diverse AAPI community.

Upper school library

Lower school library

Stop Asian Hate
We stand together in support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the wake of the recent tragedy and increased violence against these groups in recent months.

For meaningful ways to support the AAPI community and for resources if you have been affected by recent events, please visit https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co. (https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/)

Together we can stomp out racism. #StopAsianHate

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

SUMMER READ ALONG

Staff, parents, and students participated in a Summer 2021 Read – Along by reading one of the 3 titles enclosed in this flyer. This was part of our Summer Reading Challenge.

BOOK DISCUSSION - STAMPED

Parents and teachers participated in a book discussion held in October. We discussed themes around identity, race, biases, as it pertained to the book Stamped and individual experiences.

Students in 6th grade participated in book review and discussions in their English Language Arts class. 

IB COUNCIL - PEER MEDIATION

Plan and develop the start of the IB Council, which is a type of student government organization. A component of the IB Council will be to have professional development on peer mediation so that students have more voice in these matters. The idea is for students to develop agency in policy and take a proactive approach to developing safe appropriate habits in school.

PTO - INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION

Increase participation and engagement in PTO meetings by incorporating student led initiatives and learning in the beginning of the meeting. Parents want to see student learning and are looking to be more informed about the IB philosophy. We believe that by integrating a student led component in the PTO meetings, we can increase the overall participation of our parents in the long term.