Proud to Be: Celebrating Differences, While Building Awareness of Bias & Prejudice

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Workshops

Mr. Brian Corley (ISACS Equity & Justice Committee, National SEED Facilitator, Founder and CEO of SingleStory, Inc.) and Dr. Kellie Corley (Educational Consultant & COO of SingleStory, Inc.) visited Sion on Tuesday, February 21 and offered interactive workshops as part of Caring at Sion, our character education program, for students in grades 4-8, all GS faculty and staff, and parents. 

All workshops shared the same learning goals:

• Realize the impact of our words and/or actions on others
• Utilize tools to confront bias and prejudice language and behaviors
• Problem solve to develop viable, culturally responsive solutions to challenging diversity conflicts.

Participants started by carrying out an activity to celebrate their multicultural selves and celebrate differences without offending others. They selecting five different groups they identify with. Some examples include ethnicity or country of origin, gender, religion, appearance, family role, language, learning difference, hobbies, interests, school affiliation, and sports clubs, among others, etc. After they were asked to think and share (if desired) a time when they felt very proud to be a member of a certain group, a time when it felt very painful or embarrassing to be a member of a certain group, and one thing they wish people would never say about one of their groups.

This activity was used as a framework to provide all participants with language to combat negative stereotypes and/or acts of insensitivity in a positive and productive way. Further, to increase sensitivity by providing understanding about the power of words and actions, and how these can impact others regardless of the original intent.

Participants received toolkits to spot and understand the difference between bias and prejudice, bullying, belittling jokes, and exclusion, separation, diversity, and inclusion. The need to strive for and nurture inclusion was highlighted. In addition, our presenters stressed the importance of confronting and speaking up against bias and prejudice, and provided strategies to help accomplish this in an effective, respectful, and compassionate manner, to include instances when one could be the offender. 
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These strategies are useful and applicable for all types of relational interactions: student-student, student-teacher, student-parent, teacher-teacher, parent-parent, etc. After reviewing each one of them, students, faculty, staff, and parents engaged in different age-appropriate collaborative case studies where they had to select the most suitable strategy and write/share a response to the specific cases. 

Academic & Athletic Accolades

Duke University Talent Identification Program (DUKE TIP)
The Duke TIP is dedicated to being a global leader in identifying academically talented students and providing them with innovative programs to assess the extent of their abilities with above-level testing, recognize them for their achievements, and provide them with a variety of enrichment learning opportunities. This year, we had 39 students in grades 5-7 qualify for this recognition. Congratulations to these students and all their teachers for all their hard work and dedication! 

Science Olympiad
Congratulations to our Middle School Science Olympiad team who qualified to the State Tournament! In addition, Ruth H. and Maya R. (8th grade) obtained the gold medal in “Solar System” qualifying individually as Regional champions! The State Tournament will take place on Saturday, April 7 at Westminster College. Many many thanks to Jim, Christian, parent volunteers, and everyone for their amazing hard work, dedication, and support to the team! Vive Sion!

Art Studio
Congratulations to the following students who entered artwork for submission at Images Gallery in Overland Park: Aynslee D. (Grade 2), Jack R. (Grade 5), Zoë W. (Grade 5), Lily D. (Grade 6), Ellie R. (Grade 6), Lilly S. (Grade 6), Lily T. (Grade 6), Tessa T. (Grade 6), Sophie E. (Grade 7), and Maya R. (Grade 8).

Geography Bee
Congratulations to Ruth H. (Grade 8) who qualified for the State Geography Bee competition. The Missouri State Bee will take place on Friday, April 6 at Moberly Area Community College.

Basketball
Congratulations to the 5th, 6th, and 8th grade girls basketball teams for making it to the City Tournament Finals. Especially, congratulations to the Grade 5 girls basketball team (top photo below) that placed first in the city championship! The grade 6 girl basketball team placed second in the city championship, as well as the 8th Grade girls team (see photo below). Well done and Vive Sion!