From December 5-7, a delegation of four Upper School students attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) under the guidance of Senior Kindergarten teacher Kirk LaRue and third-grade teacher Ashleigh St. Peters, and around forty Parker faculty members from across the divisions attended the People of Color Conference (PoCC). Both programs were facilitated by the National Association of Independent Schools and held in Seattle.

The theme of SDLC, in its 26th year, was “1954. With All Deliberate Speed. 2019. Integrating Schools, Minds, and Hearts With the Fierce Urgency of Now,” in reference to the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education case which deemed segregation in American schools unconstitutional. According to NAIS, the goal was for the over 1,500 participating students to “develop cross-cultural communication skills, design effective strategies for social justice practice through dialogue and the arts, and learn the foundations of allyship and networking principles.”

With the two full days beginning at 8 a.m and concluding at 11 p.m, the SDLC schedule was complete with keynote presentations, affinity group dialogues, and “family group” activities. While affinity groups were comprised of students who shared an aspect of their identity, the family groups mixed students from a variety of backgrounds.

With the most time allocated to family group meetings, the activities ranged from Spectrum, in which a facilitator gave directions such as “go to the right side of the room if you would kneel for the anthem, and the left side if you’d stand for the anthem,” to discussions that allowed students to share their perspectives and experiences on topics like colorist and privilege.

To senior Anjali Chandel, reading relationships with the other students was one of the most valuable aspects of SDLC. “I became really close with a girl who is also a senior that lives in Southern California,” Chandel said. “Her mother is 100 percent Navajo and grew up on a reservation. Hearing the stories from her mother’s experiences and learning more about the reservations, the genocide her family survived, and the Navajo culture had a great impact on me. Since the history and stories of those indigenous to this country are often erased and ignored, I feel fortunate to have met her and to have learned more about her tribe.”

Additionally, senior Lauryn Rauschenberger’s interactions with other attendees prompted her to reflect on the climate at Parker. She befriended a student who spoke of the divide within his school between affluent students and those receiving financial aid, the result of some students not being able to partake in expensive social activities, like vacations, outside of school. “The idea that some kids have no concept of the value of money and that other kids have to think about money on a daily basis is something that we don’t really talk about here, and I think we should.”

Rauschenberger hopes that more Parker students will have the opportunity to engage with diversity issues as she did at the conference. “Going to SDLC is a great reward for kids who are doing a lot of great work in the community,” Rauschenberger said. “At the same time, the kids who are going on the trip aren’t the ones who need the most work on this sort of thing. Parker needs to make sure that everyone is getting involved, whether or not they signed up for Diversity Task Force.”

Meanwhile, Parker administrators and teachers attended PoCC, with the theme “1619. 2019. Before. Beyond. Amplifying Our Intelligence to Liberate, Co-create, and Thrive.” NAIS describes the conference’s mission as to “provide a safe space for leadership and professional development and networking for people of color and allies of all backgrounds in independent schools.” Participants attended keynote lectures, workshops related to teaching, career building, and leading as an administrator, and affinity group dialogues.

Parker faculty also led multiple sessions. Upper School Head Justin Brandon, along with a colleague at the Park School in Baltimore, presented, “Administrators of Color Matter: How to Strengthen Your Candidacy in Pursuit of Leadership Positions.” Associate Principal Ruth Jurgensen was part of a group which led the seminar “Connecting the Dots in Culturally Competent Leadership for Independent Schools: Climate, Recruitment, Hiring, Retention, and Accountability.” English teacher Stacey Gibson and Upper School Counselor Binita Donohue together presented “The Life of the Diversity Practitioner: Circle of Rebirth or Cycle of Abuse?”

Dean of Student Life for Intermediate and Middle Schools Tray White found it meaningful to attend Brandon’s workshop. “As a black American man who has navigated independent schools as a student and as a professional,” White said, “it was empowering and affirming to see myself in someone else, in many facets, such as race and ethnicity, our values, culture, and our experiences in the world.”

Like the students, White valued his interactions with colleagues that were possible due to the safe, collaborative space established by PoCC — both during and outside of the structured activities. “I was with some friends, and we found ourselves sitting at breakfast for an hour having this intense discussion about everything from being black or multi-racial professionals in independent schools, to working in spaces with majority white students, to the way we interact with people of color in our school,” White said. “PoCC allows you the time and space to not have to put on a mask or be politically correct. You just get to be as genuine, as authentic, as truthful as you can be.”