Willow’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee supports our school’s continued growth as an intentionally inclusive and welcoming environment for a diverse student population. Recent events involving racial discrimination have led to deeper Committee conversations around what this works means for the Willow community. To help us continue to grow as an inclusive community, Willow’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee recently launched a Conversation Starters series of monthly e-newsletters.
These e-newsletters will help all of our community members grow in understanding about what is going on in our larger world regarding racism, diversity, and inclusion, how we can explain these big concepts to our small children, and what we can do individually or collectively to help create positive change, applying the Virtues to current events in the world around us.
The D&I Committee has been conscious about meeting families wherever they are in the process of learning and providing a mix of resources in each e-newsletter identified in the following categories:
- SEEDS are resources that touch on a given topic in a lighter, overview sort of way. Often, these are resources for younger children and those just embarking on their learning path.
- PLANTS are resources that dig a little deeper into the how’s and whys’ of a specific topic, touching on opportunities for internal growth and external action.
- FLOWERS are resources that may push us out of our comfort zones and into new ways of seeing, acting, and being in the world.
All resources are designed to inspire new ways of thinking within a supportive and positive context.
Events and discussions around racism in the past couple of months have been top-of-mind, with parents all over the world asking, “How do I talk with my child about what is happening?” So the Committee’s first Conversation Starter email focused on just that! Willow Parents, check your inbox for the first email or log onto the Parent Portal to check out our new Diversity & Inclusion Committee resource page.
If you would like to learn more about our Diversity & Inclusion Committee, reach out to diversitycommittee@willowschool.org!