SCARBOROUGH — Twelve of Scarborough’s Wentworth School staff members are among over 300 Maine educators to participate in a series of workshops that are “focused on increasing cultural competency.”
The workshops are part of the Cultural Competency Institute, an interactive year-long program that covers topics surrounding diversity and inclusion, creating educators who can lead with cultural competence and cultural empathy, said the Maine School Management Association.
The Cultural Competency Institute is led by Lawrence Alexander of Carney Sandoe and Associates Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practice Group, the MSMA said.
Judi DeMucci, a social worker at Wentworth, said that staff began attending the sessions in September as well as small group sessions within the school “to begin discussions and the process of identifying our beliefs and discuss actions steps related to the inequities people of color face day to day within our community.”
“As a group of White educators, we are evolving in our understanding of our own biases and how they play out in our lives here and elsewhere,” said a statement from the group. “We are talking about how we can provide a curriculum to students that include all races/cultures. We are talking about how we can have courageous conversations in respectful ways with colleagues and students. We are sharing our discomfort and uneasiness in figuring out what to say to support People of Color with respect and dignity.”
The statement continued, “We recently opened up the discussion to our entire staff and are continuing to move forward with action steps and discussion to let our students know that Black Lives Matter — a human rights/civil rights issue — so that our students of color feel safe and supported and know that they have a voice here.”
The 12 staff members are expanding the sessions into weekly meetings, inviting all Wentworth School staff to participate, said Principal Kelli Crosby.
“We are passionately committed to ensuring equity, and I feel we can only reach our full potential as a school community by supporting our (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students and staff and committing to strategically eliminating implicit and explicit racism,” she said in an email. “I am confident the staff engaged in CCI are and will continue to be leaders in this critical conversation about race and inclusion.”
Crosby said in a letter to the school community that the staff owe it to all students, especially those in marginalized populations, to “do better.”
“It has been encouraging and inspiring to welcome new voices to our discussions about racism, equity and inclusion, and to have an opportunity to notice, engage, understand and empathize together,” she said. “We know many continue to seek more information on how we can support our BIPOC students, colleagues, and community members.”
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