Kamala Harris is the Vice President-Elect. Regardless of your political views, this is a historic moment. Senator Harris' identity as a Black woman, a woman of South Asian descent, a daughter of immigrants, a partner to a Jewish man, and a member of a blended family represents so many identifiers. She provides a mirror to many of us and our students; reminding us that representation in politics (and all fields) matters.

DAC/DEI COORDINATOR UPDATE

DEI Coordinator Spotlight: Danielle Broadwater

As a reminder, there are eight DEI Coordinator positions across the school. Six positions are designated for faculty and two are designated for staff. We have had one open staff position since January, and it has recently been filled by Danielle Broadwater. Danielle shares some reflections on hearing Lab student and alumni experiences and connecting them to her own high school experience.

which triggered memories of my own high school experience. I attended a predominantly white all-girls institution in the south, and in reading many of the accounts, I was reminded of my own similar experiences. Twenty plus years in the past and at different institutions some of the stories were the same. Through this vulnerability, I recognize that many of us and our students experience our and their time at Lab in very different ways. As an employee at Lab and parent of a younger child, I frequently see only a segmented portion of Lab, however, I'm reminded that, like I was in high school, there are some alumni and current students who

have felt/feel unseen, unheard, and unsupported. As an advocate for marginalized groups, each new incident of injustice or inequity, whether near or far, brings fresh anger, frustration, and exhaustion. Knowing what we know from those accounts, it is critical to acknowledge and respect this anguish, bring comfort and love to those that are hurting, and remember that injustice is enabled by the silence of bystanders.

AROUND THE SCHOOL

November PD Day

Thank you for your presence and participation in Friday's Professional Development Day. Dr. Dena Simmons kicked off our day reminding us of addressing trauma, doing the work of anti-racism, of taking care of ourselves as we work towards educational equity. Dr. Simmons has shared this resource list with us as follow-up reading from her talk.

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PoCC/SDLC 2020

As you know, NAIS' People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference are both virtual this year. We are sending a delegation of six students (as we do every year) and 18 adults, including six faculty members who are presenting two different workshops for the conference. Like in past years, we will host sessions in January to share out our learning and takeaways with the larger Lab community.

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Community Watch: ISACS Webinar "Meeting the Moment: What the Racial Justice Uprising Means for (& Requires of) Our Independent Schools "

Join us at 5pm on Thursday, November 19 to watch the recording of this webinar featuring Tim Wise. We will discuss the webinar and the implications for Lab after we watch the recording. Register here.

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Past DEI Wednesday resources

Each third Wednesday of the month focuses on DEI sessions for faculty. Linked here are resources from September and October's meetings. More information about November's DEI Wednesday will be shared by divisional DEI coordinators soon.

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PA DEI Committee Meeting

On November 12, from 7–8:30 p.m., the PA DEI Committee, will host a multi-part discussion where school administrators share their framework for responding to and reporting bias and highlight the focus on education and accountability when responding to incidents. Additionally, Dr. Crystal Laura, Professor of Educational Leadership at Chicago State, will address moving school culture towards more restorative practices. Dr. Laura, also a Lab Parent, writes and speaks on practicing an ethic of love, justice, and joy in schools. Please register in advance for this meeting here.

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RESOURCES & TOOLS

Previous newsletters have a wealth of resources to enrich, enlighten, and evolve your own knowledge and practice in your classrooms and office. 

Intersections of Disability Justice and Transformative Justice

How do disability justice strategies and knowledge inform transformative justice practices? In this video, disability justice and transformative justice organizers Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarsinha and Elliott Fukui explore some of the intersections of these movements.

Self-Guided Course: Intro to Equity Literacy

Learn to be a threat to inequity by taking this free self-guided online course. "In this course you will learn core aspects of the equity literacy framework, including its dimensions, abilities, and principles. This course is designed to take 3-4 hours if you do the reading and engage with the interactive components."

Sesame Street Identity Matters Study

This study "documents how the most important adults in children's lives—parents and educators—view social identity development and its influence on children's pathways to life success. The study findings indicate that identity development, given its critical role in propelling our children's futures, is given inadequate attention by too many parents and educators. Moreover, there are important differences across demographic groups—especially between majority and minority group members—in how identity factors are understood and the steps that are being taken to promote family dialogue and community attention."

Speak Up at School: How to Respond to Everyday Prejudice, Bias, and Stereotypes

"What exactly is biased language, you might ask? Slurs, put-downs and other

negative labels, of course. We know these can start as early as kindergarten when, for instance, a boy is teased about being "girly" because he likes dolls. And we're all too familiar with the queasy feeling that comes when a colleague makes a joke that relies on stereotypes for its humor. This booklet is for educators who want to develop the skills to speak up themselves and who want to help their students find the courage to speak up too."

It's Native American Heritage Month. There are so many incredible resources available to learn more about indigenous communities and to teach about the silenced histories of indigenous folks. Here are just a few resources.

Pulitzer Center - Indigenous Communities

This resource from the Pulitzer Center has stories, projects, education resources, and lesson plans for teachers interested in exploring the challenges facing Indigenous communities as a result of centuries-long systems of oppression.

Teaching Tolerance Film: The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancestors

The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancestors offers an introduction to the history of Indigenous enslavement on land that is now the United States. As the featured historians point out, the enslavement of Indigenous peoples stretched from Alaska into South America. It predated and helped shape the system of African enslavement in New England, and it lasted until throughout the 19th century in the West. "This," explains historian Andrés Reséndez, "is our shared history."

Native Land Map/App

Interactive map resource for those interested in exploring Indigenous lands. The accompanying blog provides many more resources for teaching and learning.

UPCOMING EVENTS