Every day, staff and students of all backgrounds come together in the critical educational setting that is our public school system. Recognizing the importance of diversity in our schools, CISNT works to promote equitable and inclusive learning environments in which people of all races, origins, and socioeconomic backgrounds can thrive. At Bridgeport Middle School, Site Coordinator Jamey Carpenter goes above and beyond to help make her campus a safe and productive space for all students.
Following her arrival as CISNT Site Coordinator at BMS, Mrs. Carpenter was asked to take over her school’s No Place for Hate Committee. No Place for Hate is a self-directed program organized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The program seeks to engage students and staff in education on the topics of bias, bullying, inclusion, and allyship to make school campuses safe and inclusive for all.
Schools that hold a No Place for Hate designation must maintain a committee to design and implement three campus-wide activities each school year that focus on anti-bias education and bullying prevention. This month, Mrs. Carpenter and the BMS NPFH Committee held its most recent activity to explore the complexity of identity and embrace campus diversity.
Mrs. Carpenter writes:
“For the first part, we had each class discuss identity, and we used the iceberg metaphor, where some parts of our identities are above the surface and easy to see, while other parts are below the surface and only known when people get to know us. At the end of the lesson, we had all of the students select three pieces of their identity in a google form.”
Responses gathered from the google forms were used to generate a word cloud to show the diversity and commonalities of identities at BMS. Mrs. Carpenter and the NPFH Committee also randomly selected 12 students and four staff members to interview for a “People of BMS” slideshow. Through the slideshow, the selected students and staff members were able to share their backgrounds, traditions, family structures, and what they love about BMS. The activities were profoundly well-received by students.
Mrs. Carpenter writes:
“The teachers facilitated discussion with their students about what they had learned, and we had some students state they felt less alone knowing other students had some of the same identifiers as them. Students were also amazed and interested in all the diversity on our campus.”
CISNT’s core beliefs compel us to recognize and celebrate our students’ diverse backgrounds, help create equitable educational outcomes for them, and provide an inclusive environment as we surround them with a community of support. We applaud Mrs. Carpenter for exemplifying our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and for helping to organize an experience that allowed BMS students and staff members to learn about the identities of others and explore their own identities!
CISNT is All In For All Kids!
