by Dr. Scott Gaynor, Head of School
“A diversity of love expands and sustains the ecosphere of kindness.”
– Andrew Solomon, speaking at Stephen Gaynor School on September 15, 2016.
At our opening assembly in September, I was honored to announce this year’s community values theme, “Be Together, Not the Same.” Inspired by the tagline for a recent campaign by Android, this theme exemplifies Gaynor’s close-knit community – one that respects everyone’s differences. Our students grasped this message immediately and were able to articulate what it means to be part of an inclusive environment. The examples they provided ranged from allowing a classmate to sit at your lunch table to sticking up for another student.
The concept of what it means to “be together” is embedded into our curriculum. Our community values vision statement recognizes our responsibility to create an inclusive environment that supports and celebrates each individual in our school community. We seek to raise awareness, promote critical thinking, and encourage responsible action around issues of diversity and citizenship by integrating them into the curriculum, facilitating faculty training, and incorporating events throughout the school year.
The second part of this year’s theme “not the same” is at the core of our student advocacy program. We teach our students that we all have strengths and weaknesses that make us unique. By understanding how we learn best, one can develop his or her own toolkit for academic success. Understanding one’s own learning style also allows students to advocate for themselves. This skill is practiced at Gaynor so that our students are confident in advocating for the appropriate resources at their next school.
Building an inclusive community requires the involvement and guidance of our teachers and parents. In order for adults to best educate our children, we need to have the tools and language to foster open-mindedness and embrace differences. Prior to the start of school this year our teachers attended an all-day workshop led by diversity and inclusivity consultant Derrick Gay. He took our faculty and staff through a series of exercises to cultivate our own cultural competency, promote empathy, and deepen our understanding of inclusion. Dr. Gay will continue his work with our faculty throughout the year with a series of smaller workshops.
Through our partnership with the Parents’ Association led by our diversity chair, Traci Lester, we have a series of lectures available to parents. Our most recent presentation was from the best-selling author of “Far From the Tree,” Andrew Solomon. Mr. Solomon delivered a heartfelt and inspirational message about celebrating children for their differences. Keep on the lookout for additional parent lectures on diversity throughout the year.
I am excited about this year’s community values theme and look forward to our continued work towards building an inclusive community.