Ensuring That the Results of Equity Efforts Last

In the summer of 2023, we shared the details about our school’s first annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Day. Although the day was a resounding success, one successful day is hardly sufficient to create a more just and inclusive school environment. As a result, our equity team sifted through feedback from staff and students about their impressions of the day to inform and inspire these next steps:

Amplify Your Impact

Initially, it seemed that the best way we could be responsive to the feedback we received was to seek outside funding for DEI Day 2024. Among other ideas, students expressed a desire for more interactive presentations and the opportunity to attend more than one session, and staff offered ways to improve the logistics of the day. In an attempt to meet their needs, we applied for the Envision Grant from the National Education Foundation to fund our second annual DEI Day, and were fortunate to be awarded $3,400.   

This grant enabled us to offer students the opportunity to select two sessions of their choice, purchase supplies to make sessions more engaging and interactive, and have Anthony Ferraro, a blind paralympic athlete, to come to our school and speak with our students. 

Additionally, since the feedback also suggested the need for greater student voice, we met separately with each of our student affinity groups to learn about their mission and goals, and to support them to design and facilitate a DEI Day session of their choice. 

As a direct result, DEI Day 2024 had more than twice as many student-led sessions as the year prior and represented all of our student affinity groups, including the Muslim Student Association, the Hindu Cultural Student Association, the Disabled Student Union, the South Asian-American Student Association, the Jewish Community Youth Club, the Black Student Union, the Gender Sexuality Alliance, and the Mental Health Awareness Club. 

Extend Your Impact

Following DEI Day, we endeavored to maintain our connections with the student affinity groups by creating an Affinity Group Google Classroom as a way to communicate future opportunities and encourage alliances between the groups. In just a few short months, the student groups in this Google Classroom accomplished the following activities.

• The Muslim Student Association taught upper elementary students about Muslim culture and how to write their names in Arabic. The students in the association arrived prepared with each elementary student’s first name written in Arabic on a separate piece of paper, so they could either use it as a model or trace their names based on each student’s needs.
• The Disabled Student Association presented to teachers at the lower elementary schools to build awareness about issues facing students with disabilities. They also provided examples of how teachers could be responsive to the needs of disabled students while at the same time maintaining classroom expectations and demonstrating kindness and respect.
• The Hindu Cultural Student Association presented to lower elementary students during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, using the book Bee-Bim Bop!, by Linda Sue Park and Ho Baek Lee.  They presented the book digitally, read it aloud, and asked students questions throughout to foster engagement. After they finished the book, they provided time for students to discuss what they had learned.
• Our affinity groups each had the opportunity to present at one of our high school’s  faculty meetings to share with teachers how they could best address students’ needs in the classroom and support their group’s goals and objectives.
• For the first time, the Hindu Cultural Student Association partnered with the South Asian-American Student Association for a Bollywood Movie Night that was attended by students and parents.
• Our Mental Health Awareness Group and Black Student Union recorded videos to be used to interview new teacher candidates for our video screener. They created their own questions about issues relating to social and emotional learning, as well as diversity, equity, inclusivity, and belonging.

Prioritize Continued Growth

As equity work requires continued learning and growth, we made a few notable changes to our equity team’s norms and structure. First, we realized that we needed to ensure that the responsibilities of our team were distributed equitably, so we created subcommittees for members to sign up for based upon their interests and time constraints. Members volunteered to be a part of either connecting with our student affinity groups, coordinating with DEI Day presenters, or contributing to the “Equity Corner” in our school’s weekly newsletter to staff.   

Our team also began a book study to continue to build our capacity as equity leaders. The member of our team who volunteered to lead our book study curated excerpts from our selected book to begin each meeting, along with a discussion protocol or questions to facilitate reflection and conversation. 

Digital copies of the excerpts were provided the week of each meeting, so everyone could join the conversation regardless of whether they read the book. These curated excerpts also served to welcome and be inclusive of new members who joined the team during the school year 

During the 2023–24 school year, our team focused on The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGhee. For the 2024–25 school year, we’ll be reading and discussing This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work, by Tiffany Jewell.

It’s important to note that much of this work wouldn’t be possible without district leaders who are committed to equity. Our district has a chief equity officer, a DEI coordinator, an explicitly stated equity goal, and administrators and teachers who are committed to equitable practices. 

It is our district’s hope that we are fostering students’ skills and dispositions to become engaged citizens who are civically minded and will be agents of change to positively impact their lives and the lives of others.