A finicky February - weather-wise - has been supplemented by a few Diversity Initiatives that occurred during the first eight days of the month in recognition of two important celebrations: Black History Month and the Lunar New Year.

The annual Middle and Upper School Black History Month assemblies were held on the morning of February 6th, and both featured a performance by Philadelphia-based Key Arts Productions entitled “Go Down Moses - The Story of the American Negro Spiritual”. Prior to the assembly, Mr. Carbon emailed the Middle and Upper School faculty an accompanying Teaching Guide provided by Key Arts, along with a synopsis of the performance:

“Created by slaves on plantations in the American south and sug by protestors and worshippers today, spirituals powerfully combine despair, hope, anger and promise, protest and deliverance. ‘Go Down Moses’ is a live concert and visual presentation that features soul stirring renditions of classics including ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’, ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child’, ‘Deep River’, ‘Wade in the Water’ and others. This inspiring program is packed with historical film footage and still images.”

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On February 8, the Chinese and Korean Parent Affinity Groups helped the D-E Middle and Upper Schools in ringing in the Lunar New Year. Aside from decorating the Wharton-Lessin Dining Hall with bright red lanterns and monkey insignia - as 2016 is the Year of the Monkey - the Parent Affinity Groups provided a food tasting at both the Middle and Upper School lunches, featuring Chinese dumplings and Korean Bibimbap to compliment the Asian-inspired lunch provided by FLIK that day. Students also got to experience calligraphy as well as a traditional Lion Dance performed by the following students:

Additionally, the Korean and Chinese Culture Clubs once again packed red good luck envelopes for students in all three divisions of the school.

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The February 16th Professional Day had all faculty undergo a Faith Zone Training, which is self-described by the NYU Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership’s Faith Zone as follows:

“Recipient of the 2014 Inaugural Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Outstanding Spiritual Initiative Award, Faith Zone is a workshop designed to promote spiritual and religious literacy and dialogue.

“Faith Zone Trainings are a resource for those who desire innovative and participatory training, contextualized resources, and honest dialogue about religion and spirituality.

“...Based upon the Safe Zone model which is used to educate groups about the LGBTQ community, Faith Zone sessions take a dual approach that integrates theory and practice. Topics covered include reflecting on personal experiences with faith and spirituality, examining the global and local context for various religious traditions represented at NYU, as well as discussing tips for creating a safe and welcoming environment in one’s office, residence hall, student group, or classroom. Many of these ideas are contained in our Top Ten Tips for Multifaith Work that are handed out at the conclusion of every Faith Zone workshop."

This training was provided in anticipation of March 7, when the entire school will, as Mr. Algrant explained via email to the faculty, “...take the morning to explore religion, both with outside speakers as previously mentioned, and with more interactive sessions that start to allow religion to be a more comfortable topic of conversation amongst our students, and perhaps ourselves as well.”

Mr. Algrant also reminded the faculty of why this workshop was taking place by sharing a few paragraphs regarding religion from the CSBGL identity project report:

“For D-E students, religious beliefs were central to their identities, and this key finding also surfaced among a range of religious affiliations (e.g., Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc.). There was hesitancy among school peers to discuss religion or ‘God,’ and, in turn, students never brought up the topic, in fear of not being understood. A White, 10th grade male said: ‘When I interact with other schoolmates I usually hide this part of myself and just show them what they want to [see] because I assume they won’t understand who I really am. I go to church every Sunday and I believe that God is everything; but I can’t dare talk about him at school, who will understand?’

“This aspect of student identity was characterized as a taboo or unspoken issue on campus, insomuch as, students considered it to be a topic rarely discussed in class, or in the school’s common areas (i.e., lunchroom, library, Leggett Field, etc.). Students expressed a desire to discuss religion in more explicit and concrete ways, both in the classroom, and other social programs at school.”