"Together, we [created] an important and hopefully long-lasting impact on our students...
..., which we can take into the new school year and inspire all of us to carry forth this effort into our daily teaching and learning at GISSV. Thank you for your hard work!" ~The Faculty and Student Diversity Committee
The week of June 13-17 was full of exciting DEI activities:
From Wednesday to Friday our students had DEI Project Days, for which most of the students (grades 2-11) could choose a workshop of their liking.
During the week we had the team from The Impact Company at GISSV supporting the faculty and the students during the DEI Project Days. Additionally to supporting the projects, and a staff workshop, the team gave parent sessions on "Harnessing the Power of Diversity" on Monday and Tuesday. Thank you to all of the parents that actively took part in the sessions. We hope to see even more of you next time. (Find the slides here.)
DEI Project Days
The student project days were kicked off on Wednesday with inspiring workshops providing input from several sources:
- The Impact of Inclusive Language (The Impact Company, Shawn Williams)
- Uncovering Unconscious Bias (The Impact Company, Yolanda Rothers)
- Juneteenth to Justice (Veronica Talton, Talton Consulting
- Implications of Harassment (Thomas Lowe, Mountain View Police Department)
- Understanding Neurodiversity (Winifred Montgomery, Wilmerding-Lick High School)
- The Meaning of LGBTQ+ (The Q Corner, Isabella Garcia and Emmett Marsh)
Projects officially started on Thursday, and at the end of Friday the students had the chance to walk around to look at the other students’ work. The project groups were a mix of up to 20 students from different classes and grade levels (except preschool; K-1 worked together) and our SF Middle School students joined their peers in MV. Moreover, students in secondary school had the opportunity to choose projects in both Mountain View and San Francisco.
Thank you to the teachers for providing meaningful projects and to the parent helpers/experts as well as High School students that signed up as volunteers.
Here is a list with just a few of the projects:
Middle and High School
- Accepting Ourselves + Accepting Others
- Third Culture Kids
- Creating a Walking Tour through the LGBTQ+ History in SF Castro District
- San Francisco's Latin Roots
- Exploring Native-American Life and History in the Bay Area
- Building Restorative Justice Practices at GISSV
- Empathy through Awareness
- Understanding to Prevent Cyber-Bullying
Kibili and Elementary School
- Who Am I? Exploring Identity
- Accepting Ourselves + Accepting Others
- German Sign Language and Deaf Culture
- Me and My Friends
- Games Around the World
- Cooking and Food in Different Cultures