Powers for Good: Community Members Attend SDLC and PoCC

While the students attended this event, a cohort of eight Masters faculty, staff and administrators participated in the People of Color Conference (PoCC), which took place simultaneously in the same city.

 

The two conferences, which were both hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools, ran from Wednesday, December 4, through Saturday, December 7. The SDLC participants, Shamira Guillaume ’21, Chelsea Hall ’20, Maxwell Levy ’20, Kishan Mangru ’21, Sachi Singh ’21 and Michelle Wei ’20, spent their days in workshops and affinity groups, where they discussed issues around cultural identifiers such as race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, ability, socioeconomic status and ability. Levy, who is a Masters School diversity ambassador, found it meaningful to consider how cultural identifiers impact and intertwine in a person’s life: “Different aspects of who you are as a person make up who you are. I talked about race and how race is in the center of mine. I also talked about socioeconomic status and gender, because there are many opportunities that I wouldn’t be able to have if I had a different socioeconomic status.”

 

Hall, also a diversity ambassador, highlighted the conversations about land ownership and the keynote presentation by Joy DeGruy on multi-generational trauma. Particularly powerful, she said, was her experience in the affinity group for black and African American students: “There were 700 or more people of color in one room. That is an experience I’ve never had and probably will never have again in a school setting. It’s a great memory that I have that I cherish and that I want to learn from.”

 

The Masters educators who attended the People of Color Conference had similarly meaningful experiences. “I chose to customize my workshops to subjects that helped me professionally and gave me more insight into what and who I currently work with,” Director of Equity and Inclusion Karen Brown explained, noting that she selected events that focused on diversity and inclusion in the dorms, and managing situations faced by black students and how historical events impact these situations.

 

Eric Shear, an upper school science teacher and equity and inclusion coordinator, explained that some of the most salient ideas he left were ways to empower students; using data to help analyze how Masters is faring on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion; expressing love to those close to us and those with whom we disagree; and integrating equity and inclusion work into the STEM field. How will he begin to incorporate these issues into his work at Masters? “I am going to look at my own curriculum critically and try to incorporate more examples of other cultures and historical perspectives on chemistry.”