Young Palisadians Celebrate Diversity

When thinking about diversity, for many, skin color  is the first thought that comes to mind. But diversity is much more than that, and it is something to be celebrated.

This was the overarching theme of The Archer School for Girls’ seventh annual Diversity Day which took place on campus January 29. The day-long celebration underscores Archer’s commitment to an ongoing exploration of students’ similarities and differences. Students, faculty and staff plan this unique day one year in advance in order to ensure that a wide variety of topics and issues can be covered.

“I work with a team of dedicated parent volunteers, faculty advisors and student representatives to solicit feedback on previous seminars and speakers, seek out new topics and ideas and figure out ways to facilitate interesting and provocative discussions,” said Dean of Students, Gretchen Warner.

The celebration is an all-school event and was attended by girls from sixth to twelfth grades, and was kicked off with a keynote speech from educator and diversity consultant Rosetta Lee. She shared her perspective on diversity and how it plays a role in the way we view the world. “Often times, people get whittled down to one identity, when in fact, they have several of them,” Lee said.

In order to drive this point home, she led a group activity and everyone in the audience was asked to participate. Several group identifiers were called out at random and the audience was asked to stand if they identified with any of the groups in each category. They included: birth order, racial/ethnic and cultural heritage, religion, socioeconomic status, gender and ability. Everyone who chose to participate was asked to stand proudly for the groups in which they identified. Those who did not identify with a particular group were asked to applaud those who stood bravely in their respective categories. This was a way for the participants to feel confident about their choices and know they were in a safe place where their peers would not judge them.

For several of the girls, it was their first time experiencing a day like this, and it was an eye-opener to see the diverse backgrounds of the people they interact with on a daily basis. “It was interesting! Everyone had different life experiences. Some of the girls who had to stand alone (in their categories) were brave,” sixth-grader Clara Miklaucic said.

Following Lee’s speech, the girls were able to choose from 29 different diversity seminars to attend. The student and faculty-led workshops covered topics from self-acceptance to youth activism.

One seminar in particular took a critical look at family structures and how they have changed over several decades. Using the wildly popular TV show Modern Family as a springboard, the group examined TV families from the 1950s to today. After viewing clips from I Love Lucy, The Cosby Show, and The Brady Bunch, the girls discussed why the concept of each show caused so much controversy in its respective decade. In order to bring the workshop full-circle, the girls were asked to make collages of their own families to show that every family comes in different packages, and most importantly, it is okay to not fit the expected norm.

The Girls Educating Girls Club presented the seminar “You Call Yourself a Volunteer.” This group explored the most effective ways to give back to communities abroad. The students who made the presentation had just returned from a two-week service trip to India where they volunteered at an all-girls school. Prior to beginning their volunteer work, the participants received specialized training so that they would interact in appropriate and culturally sensitive ways.

The celebration culminated with the girls breaking up into grade levels and reflecting on their experiences throughout the entire day. Although Diversity Day was only a single day, the hope is that the experiences the girls had will resonate deeply and inform their attitudes well into their futures.

As for the future of Diversity Day, there is much more to come. “My hope is that next year, Archer students will attend other local conferences and reciprocate the invitation for peer schools to send representatives to Archer’s conference,” Warner said.