1. Establish Goals for the 2007-2008 School year

• Exploration of best practices for the Middle School instituting a Middle School GSA.

• Provide ongoing diversity workshops for the 8th grade class

• Map the current curriculum as it relates to diversity

2. Evaluating diversity in the curriculum:

It was agreed that the Diversity Committee would oversee the mapping of the current curriculum in the following areas: Gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural diversity, race orientation, religious diversity, and differing ability.

In the past, we focused on celebrating our diversity. While this will continue, in addition we now want to focus on the struggles that we still have.

3. Upcoming Events

Upper School Diversity clubs will meet with 7th and 8th grade advisories once per trimester. The hope is that students will learn about opportunities that exist in the Upper School as well as ideas for the Middle School Multicultural Committee.

Some clubs that are expected to visit include: BSU, GSA, Int. Students, and the NCBI.

• Workshop on race relations for the 8th grade

• AIMS workshop on gay pride week

• Bi-weekly trips to S.O.M.E (Ongoing)

Next Middle School Diversity Meeting: Thursday, Oct. 25

The seventh and eighth graders learned about Cinco de Mayo in the classroom while the sixth grade experienced by breaking pinatas' outdoors.

On April 23rd, the Georgetown Diversity Committee spent a full morning with our MS students. Students worked on three main activities throughout the morning. First, each student wrote on a balloon one important word that characterized them as to who they are. They kept it in the air for a minute. Then they were asked to switch their balloon with someone else's, and to keep it in the air for another minute. Students were explained that on a daily basis, all of us attend school with this balloon and intentionally or not, many times our personal balloons get popped. It was explained to them of the importance to keep everybody's balloon untouched, however, when we hurt someone, the best thing to do is to apologize. Second, they presented, explained, and talked about the different kinds of identities. These were classified as ability, age, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. The activity was to choose three of the seven color-coded identities by order of importance to them, and to find classmates that shared the same order of colors. Once they found any possible match, they talked about why those identities were important to them. They gathered as a whole and shared their experiences. Third, the group was divided by grade, and students talked openly about what they had learned, and some of the things the MS can still work on in terms of Diversity concerns. Some of the things they learned are: to be careful about what you say around people and to not make assumptions or judgments. Some of the concerns they expressed were: the differences between grades, desire to learn about other religions, ability ranges, differences in ethnicity and the importance of legacy in history.

There have been two meetings, one of which was not attended by every member due to another field trip.  The May 17 bake sale was successful, and we raised $78.20.  The committee meets two more times before the end of the year.  They will decide where this money will go.

This committee met twice this month.  We missed a third meeting due to a field trip. Students discussed ways to support diversity through community service. Different suggestions included having another bake sale, with the help of the MS Fund Raising Committee to support African causes, to opening up a book drive.  Students also thought of using their energy to help people who were affected by the huge sink-hole which recently opened in Guatemala City, possibly by having a used clothing sale.  They also considered educating our MS students about the advantages of buying fair trade chocolate. It was decided to do a donut-only bake sale on May 17, with the money collected being sent to an organization, as yet undecided.

The MS Diversity Committee has met three times. In the first two meeting, students coordinated and presented Saint Patrick's Day.  They created two beautiful and decorative posters to the community as they also presented the meaning of this activity.  In the last meeting, students also planned a bake sale to collect more founds for Swim for Life.  However, it needs to be reschedule as most members were not ready for today's bake sale.

Students hung their Kwanza, Hanukkah and Christmas colored banners at the entrance of the MS collection area. In a total of four total meeting times, students have agreed and done the following team work:

• Students would like to continue raising money for the organization "Swim for Life." They don't believe the amount raised of $106.00 is sufficient to support such a dedicated identity. They plan to have more bake sales after the New Chinese Year project.

• Students have worked during three consecutive meetings on a dragon puppet and an informational poster on the celebration of the New Chinese Year, the year of the pig. They carefully planned to get both activities done and presented by February 16th. However, school was canceled due to the snow-ice storm.

• The next students' meeting is on on Thursday, March 1st.

The MS French and Spanish Department promotes diversity!

• The MS French and Spanish Department will be celebrating Mardi Gras this week on Monday, February 26th, and on Tuesday, February 27th. These are two make-up sessions for the snowed-in days. Sixth grade was introduced to this celebration by watching an educational Mardi Gras video film. Seventh and eighth grade classes had discussions about the celebration and solved a word search. In addition, part of the celebration is that each grade does a craft. The sixth grade is going to decorate a Mardi Gras marionette with fun and colorful materials. The seventh grade is going to decorate a mask with sequins and feathers, and the eighth grade is assembling Jester hats! On Tuesday, every grade will have a taste of a King Cake baked and nicely offered by the MS Parents.

During this month, students have met so far only two times. Students concluded that they wanted to help to collect more money for the organization, "Swim for Life." They organized another baked sale. This time they raised $51.00. The total accumulated is $106.00. What a great success! Students have not determined yet if they need raise more money. They will promote Kwanzaa in the month of December. The posters they created have been posted in the MS collection area. They did not have time to present them in Collection time as they were limited in time.

During this month, there were a total of three meetings. Students had the opportunity to settle as a committee by choosing their clerk, co-clerk, and recording clerk. This committee is composed of six students. They worked together in agreeing on the committee goals. These are:

• To educate the Middle School about different cultures.
• To enjoy while working together and educating others.
• To help other cultures
• To help students be proactive for other cultures.

In order to accomplish these goals, students suggested the following activities:

• To look up different holidays
• To bring some cultural trivia game
• To research non-U.S.A. holidays, and others not so well known within the community
• To find ways to support a local service in Bethesda, "Swim for Life." This is an organization sponsored by a Latin American coach who has devoted his time teaching children who can't afford to pay for swim classes. Many of these students are in need of new swimming suits and equipment.

Final outcome: Students organized their first bake sale to support "Swim for Life." They had a very successful one! They raised $56.00. Also, students also started researching and creating posters for the following holidays: Dasssera, Samhain, and Chu-Suk.

This year, students and two faculty members form this committee. At our first meeting, students chose a clerk, a co-clerk and a recording clerk. They also set the goals for the year. These goals are as follows:

• To educate the MS about different cultures.
• To support and enjoy group activities.
• To help people of a different culture, who may be in need.

At our second meeting, the Diversity Committee started to think about what activities they would like to do this fall. These are the suggestions:

• To research and present different holidays.
• To research and present other international holidays.
• To host cultural trivia contests in the MS.
  • The advisory that gets the proper answer to the trivia gets to bring their lunch and a dessert made by the cultural committee.
• To research October, November, and December holidays.
  • October-we'll do a bake sale to support "Life for Swim." With the money, this charitable organization will be able to buy new swimming suits for the members of the team.
  • November-we'll research The Day of the Dead (Mexico and Guatemala).
  • December-we'll learn about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

The MS French and Spanish Department promotes diversity!
On October 26th, the MS, French and Spanish students will celebrate "El día de los Muertos," also known as The Day of the Dead. Each grade will do a Mexican craft. Sixth grade will create and decorate skeletons made out of stamps on a piece of paper. They will also learn the dance of the old people, "El baile de los viejitos." Seventh grade will make Marigolds out of tissue paper, and eighth grade will decorate "Sugar Skulls." At the end of each craft, they will enjoy a delicious Mexican hot chocolate with churros or sweet empanadas.

The MS French and Spanish Department International Luncheon!
For the fifth consecutive year, the MS French and Spanish Department with the help of the MS Parents Association will host their International Luncheon on November 3rd. This luncheon allows students and parents to bring to share a dish that represents their origin. This year's lunch will be divided into five regions: Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. ¡Bon appetite!

Update on the Middle School Faculty and Student Diversity Committee Questionnaire:
Both the student and faculty questionnaires have been tallied, and a brief preliminary report was given at the May, 2006 all-School Diversity meeting. A complete report of the findings, including result tables, and a plan of action, will be presented at the December 11 all-School Diversity Committee meeting. We plan to post a summary of these results on the Middle School Diversity web page.

The MS Diversity Committee organized a fun and festive Saint Patrick's Day by encouraging students to participate in the "Green Spirit Day." Most students and faculty members wore green. The most picturesque outfit was rewarded with chocolate Kisses. In addition, the Diversity committee created a guessing game with a jar full of M&M's. Students guessed at the number of pieces of candy they thought there were in the jar. The winner received the jar of M & M's.

The last end of year activity concluded with a bake sale to help a good cause. Students successfully gathered $76.00 that was donated to My Refuge (Mi Refugio), a non-denominational Guatemalan school founded by alumna, Kari Engen. Spanish teacher Ligia Gorton, and a group of MS students, traveled to Guatemala in June, and presented Kari with the check during their visit to the school.

Student and Faculty Questionnaire

• The Middle School Diversity Committee has been meeting over the past couple of months to tally the student diversity survey that was administered this fall. The faculty and student questionnaires have been compared and the answers to the questions are very similar. A full tally of the survey will be available.

Middle School Multicultural Committee

• The Middle School Multicultural Committee which is a student off shoot of the Diversity Committee, has been educating the student body about monthly holidays by presenting facts at collection and by putting posters up around the school. The most recent holidays celebrated were Chinese New Year and Martin Luther King Day. They are currently in the process of educating the community about St. Patrick's Day.

5TH ANNUAL DC METRO MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVERSITY CONFERENCE

• Members of the Governance Committee and FLAME representatives attended the 5TH ANNUAL DC METRO MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVERSITY CONFERENCE on Friday, February 24th. The topic is "What Can a Middle School Student Do To Make Her/His School Equitable and Fair?" The day's schedule included small group discussions and a performance of the Georgetown Day School's current theater piece, The Issue, which illuminates the actors’ questions, observations, and concerns surrounding social class, and drawn from the company members’ own experiences.

  The student members who attended are working with the diversity committee to create activities for the Middle School student body that will help to make them more aware of diversity issues that we can work on at Sandy Spring.

  Some quotes about the conference:

  "The conference made me more aware of how derogatory terms can seriously offend people, and yet we use them in everyday life without thinking about it."
  -8th Grade Student

  "From going to the diversity conference, I gained a better awareness of where our community stands on issues of diversity..we were able to talk about issues that are effecting out schools and share Ideas of how to handle them."
  -8th Grade Student

Student and Faculty Questionnaire

• The Multicultural Committee met and made a few changes on the student questionnaire that was drafted for the 2004-2005 school year. Their goal was to make the questions more straightforward and student friendly.

• The Multicultural Committee will present the student questionnaire to the Middle School student body during Meeting for Business on Tuesday, November 15th.

• After the students complete the questionnaire, the clerks of the Multicultural Committee, in conjunction with the faculty members on the Middle School Diversity Committee, will tally the answers to the survey and submit a summary to the All School Diversity Committee.

Meetings for the Year

• We will meet the first Wednesday of every month at 9:40 a.m.

  • November 2
  • December 7
  • January 4
  • February 1
  • March 1
  • April 5
  • May 3

Up and Coming

The Committee began a conversation on how we can help families with extra expenses that they may occur over the year. The idea of a sporting goods swap was suggested. We will look into this in greater depth at our December meeting.

Student and Faculty Questionnaire

• The faculty Diversity Committee questionnaire was administered in May of '05. The results were tallied and, combined with the results of the student questionnaire, will be used to guide aspects of our work this school year. On the whole the results of the questionnaire were very favorable. We will take some extra time looking at how we handle issues of socio-economic diversity in the Middle School.

• Last spring the committee made the decision to hold off until this fall to administer the student questionnaire because of the large number of new students entering the Middle School this year. At our meeting, we reviewed the student questionnaire, which was completed last spring, and approved it. We plan to administer this in November.

Student Involvement

• This fall, stemming from concerns about adequate and full representation from the students, we have supported the creation of a student Multi-cultural Committee. This Committee will meet once each 6-day cycle. The clerks of this group will be members of the Middle School Diversity Committee and will attend our monthly meetings. The charge of this committee is: To learn about other cultures while enriching our community through education and stewardship. The first project that this committee will embark on it to create a board in the Middle School collection area where they can provide the community information about different holidays and cultural events.

1. Survey questions

   • We finalized the questions that would be used in both the faculty and student surveys. The faculty survey will be completed this week and the student survey will be completed before the end of the year in advisory. In the Fall, the Middle School Diversity Committee will compile the results of both the faculty and student surveys, and use the information as a baseline. The committee will then use the results to create an action plan for the 2005-2006 school year. We would like to invite Middle School students to join the Middle School Diversity Committee to help with this endeavor. At the conclusion of the 2005-2006 school year, we will ask students and faculty to complete the original surveys and compare the results.

2. FAQ sheet

   • We discussed the FAQ's included in Eduardo's e-mail. The FAQ's seem to address general admissions questions (financial aid, student population, etc.),and have some specifics for Upper School students.

     We wonder…what about families applying to different divisions? Do the FAQ's address their questions? Are we appropriately promoting how we celebrate diversity in each division? Are we providing information of how we address concerns related to diversity in each division?

     Possible Division Questions:

     • What role does Quakerism play in the middle school?
     • What programs in the middle school celebrate diversity?
     • What issues surrounding diversity has the middle school encountered?

     We believe the best way to answer these questions would be to use quotes from SSFS students, faculty and families.

1. Evaluating diversity in the curriculum:

   • Augment the diversity committee to include students: seek assistance from staff at an upcoming division meeting to identify interested students and additional faculty

   • Survey creation: currently in the process of developing survey questions
     Assessing how diversity is woven into curriculum: Use a portion of the Professional Day to review Curriculum maps. We would like faculty to identify how they incorporate a celebration of diversity in their teachings.

2. All School Diversity Committee Request: Creating FAQ sheet

   • We would like clarification of the goals of the FAQ sheet. Is this to be used as an admissions tool or for the middle school to report the role diversity plays in our division?

   • Admissions Question:
     -How is diversity emphasized and celebrated in each division?
     -What trends have been identified in the applicant pool for the 6th, 7th and 8th grades?
     -How do I sustain and celebrate my own heritage in a Quaker school?

   • Division Question:
     -What role does Quakerism play in the middle school?
     -What programs in the middle school celebrate diversity?
     -What issues surrounding diversity has the middle school encountered?

   • We believe the best way to answer these questions would be to use quotes from students, faculty and families

3. 3- E-mail Upper School Diversity Committee with the following questions:

   • 1) What suggestions do you have in creating the survey?

   • 2) What challenges did you face in creating, implementing and/or evaluating the questionnaire?

   • 3) If you could have done anything differently in regards to the survey, what would it be and why?

4. Past, Current and Upcoming Events

   • Celebrating the New Year-a look at different cultures (January)

   • Jazz trio assembly (January)

   • Peace Keepers (Jan.-Feb.weekly presentations)

   • Making Schools Safe conference ( February )

   • African American History month classroom activities (February):

     * Read "Leon's Story" to my kids. It is a story about a man(who later became a custodian at the Park school in Baltimore) who grew up in North Carolina in the 30s and 40s.

     * As a daily parts of speech review, I am having the students copy down a sentence or two and identifying all of the parts of speech. The topic of these sentences is Black History.

     * In 8th grade science the students did power point presentations on the contributions of African-American scientists and inventors.

   • Holiday lunches and study of different cultures (February)

   • NCS conference for student leaders and Wednesday letter write up

   • African American Storyteller assembly (March)

   • Foreign language trips (March)

   • Coming Up: April 26th-Arabic Music, Dance and Culture

   • Bi-monthly trips to S.O.M.E (Ongoing)

1. Report on "unique board":

   • When students return from break, the "Unique Board" will be up in the lower level lobby. Advisors will be asked to show their students the board and have them discuss the diversity of our student body.

2. New Year's Celebrations

   • In addition to the "Unique Board", the diversity committee will be creating a board and activities associated with how different cultures celebrate the New Year.

3. Evaluating diversity in the curriculum

   • Use curriculum mapping as a guide to discuss how we weave issues of diversity into the curriculum

   • Make teachers aware of our request for this information via e-mail and then use time at a team meeting for discussion

   • This conversation will take place at the first meeting following the Winter break

4. Meeting with the Upper School Diversity Committee

   • Idea was raised of meeting with the Upper School Diversity Committee as a way of increasing communication across divisions: Are their projects that we could work on together?

   • A suggestion was made to contact Eduardo with the following questions:

     • What suggestions do you have in creating the survey?

     • What challenges did you face in creating, implementing and/or evaluating the questionnaire?

     • If you could have done anything differently in regards to the survey, what would it be and why?

5. Past, Current and Upcoming Events

   • School wide Homeless Walk (November 2)

   • Weekly trips to S.O.M.E (Ongoing)

   • Advisory community service projects in December: providing supplies for Iraqi children and students at a school in Guatemala

   • Celebrating the New Year-a look at different cultures (January)

   • Holiday lunches and study of different cultures (February)

   • African American History month activities (February)

1. Report on "unique board":

   • Students completed a form in advisory about what makes them unique, what they are proud of, and something special about their family. Joe and Kerri will type their responses and create a "Unique Board" in the lower lobby.

2. Report on national month celebrations

   • Many of the national month celebrations designated for October, November and December seemed inappropriate for middle school students. Hence, it was decided to begin national month celebrations in January. The new year seemed an appropriate time to begin a new program of celebratory months in the middle school.

   • January has been designated as "A Celebration of The New Year"

3. Possible questions for the survey

   • The committee decided it would be most useful to have students complete a survey about diversity without providing background information. This would offer more accurate results. However, it was decided that "I don't know" must be one of the available options so that students will not answer a question they do not understand.

   • One suggestion was that we meet with the Upper School Diversity Committee and ask what strategies they found to be most useful in developing their survey.

   • It was suggested that we give teachers the opportunity to report how they include diversity in the curriculum.

1. Review the school's mission statement on diversity:

   The committee evaluated the mission statement. It was decided that the statement was valid and reflected the ideals and initiatives of the middle school diversity committee. However, one phrase, " ...oversee formal assessments of the divisional climate" seems to imply that formal assessments have already been conducted in the Middle School. The committee felt that the phrasing may need to be adjusted to reflect our goal of creating a formal assessment with the intent to complete, distribute and tally the assessment in the Spring of 2005.

2. Goal Setting for the 2004-2005 academic school year:

   Decided Upon Goals:

   • Celebration of Diversity

   • Obtain feedback from students and faculty- Is diversity celebrated and successfully woven into the curriculum and social aspects of the middle school?

3. Creating an action plan

   • Recognize student's uniqueness as an aspect of diversity: each student will create a card that identifies how they are unique -a bulletin board will be created so that the middle school can see the diversity of the student population

   • Additional bulletin boards, flyers and announcements will be created throughout the year to emphasize a celebration of diversity. Examples of upcoming events include: national months (African American History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, etc.) student's heritage, multiple intelligences

   • Once students have been introduced to the concepts of diversity, the committee will create and distribute an assessment to be given to students and faculty in the Spring of 2005. In this way, we can identify areas of strength and where improvements are needed. The results of this assessment will guide our planning for the 2005-2006 academic year.