Thirteen members of the Westover community — six students and seven faculty and staff members — stepped away from the School’s virtual learning schedule from November 30 through December 4 to take part in this year’s National Association of Independent Schools’ Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) and People of Color Conference (POCC).

Although this year’s conferences were offered virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, their missions were still the same as those of past conferences. The SDLC’s goal is to offer high school students a range of opportunities for “self-reflecting, forming allies, and building communities” and to help develop “cross-cultural communication skills, design effective strategies for social justice practice through dialogue and the arts, and to learn the foundation of allyship and networking principles.”

For the adults, the POCC’s mission is “to provide a safe space for leadership and professional development and networking for people of color and allies of all backgrounds in independent schools” and to equip educators … with knowledge, skills, and experiences to improve and enhance the interracial, interethnic, and intercultural climate in their schools.”

The students attending the SDLC were juniors Sarah Adams, JaMara Jean, and Rachel Lartey, sophomores Julia Kolenda and Kesiah Munyaruganda, and freshman Sophia Kwak. Kira DeSimone, Inclusion Program Coordinator and a dorm faculty, served as their faculty advisor for the conference.

The faculty and staff attending the POCC were Mary Taylor-Lewis, Chief Strategic Inclusion Officer; Alexandra McKnight, Director of Counseling and Student Support; Donté Tates, English Department chair; Shamair Todman, Registrar; Eva Zegarra, Assistant Director of Admissions; Tammara Gary, Associate Director of Admissions; and Maggie Nuñez-Fernandez,  a Science teacher and dorm parent, as well as the Evening Skills Coordinator in the School’s Learning Center.

Participants at both virtual conferences heard from a range of speakers, took part in workshops, and had opportunities to share experiences with peers from across the country.

Putting What They Learned Into Action

After the conferences ended, several of Westover’s participants responded to a series of questions, reflecting on what they experienced and how they hope to incorporate what they learned into their lives at Westover and beyond.

Did the various circumstances of 2020 — the pandemic, the tumultuous Presidential election, and all the events related to the Black Lives Matter movement over the course of the past year — encourage you to take part in this year’s conference?

JaMara Jean: I think yes and no. Of course, the above-mentioned topics were major contributors to my desire to attend this conference, as I see them as having incredible relevance in relation to social justice. To a degree, discussions of these specific topics at the conference scared me as I was unsure of what kinds of opinions I would encounter and, further, if someone would say something different from what I believed in. Ultimately, I didn’t let others’ potentially differing opinions decide whether or not I would be comfortable talking about the above-mentioned topics and prepared myself in the case that something like that did occur.

Maggie Nuñez-Fernandez: Regardless of the world environment, POCC is an incredible program to learn about a variety of areas. To be challenged, grow, and connect with other educators of color working at independent schools, that by itself is all of the encouragement for me to take part. The world environment is more of a fuel to acknowledge the importance of our roles here for all of our students, especially our students of color to feel safe and supported, as well as the rest of our students in understanding experiences.

Has your participation in the conference motivated you to greater activism to effect change, both at Westover and in the world at large? If so, in what ways?

JaMara Jean: I think in many ways, SDLC has just added to my willingness and desire for advocacy and social justice in the Westover community, as well as the greater world.

One of the most discernible aspects of SDLC was its representation of identities. Seeing so many people represented in identities similar to my own, as well as different from my own, was an eye-opener. I also was able to see and meet others who have multiple identities and identify with intersectionality, much like myself. It made me reevaluate the spaces I normally see myself in, particularly at Westover, and recognize the importance of representation and seeing people who identify similarly to you.

If that feeling of knowing that I am not lonesome in my identity was as euphoric for me as anyone else, then I know there is an absolute need for spaces like that in society. Spaces where people who never get the chance to see themselves in their own spaces, school, home, activities, or in greater media, television, and film, can join together and be empowered in the presence of one another.

Maggie Nuñez-Fernandez: Greater activism to effect positive change is always needed — period — regardless of whether one participates in POCC. Participating in this conference allows one to learn more on how one can better serve one’s school, students, community, and selves.

What do you see yourself doing in the months ahead to put what you have learned at the conferences into practice?

Mary Taylor-Lewis: The pre-conference workshop I did was on Communicating Courageous Conversations Visually. It was so interesting and fun to see the workshop leaders add doodles and graphic emphasis to help the group dive deeper in the discussion, as well as offer ways to reflect and process conversations to concrete action. I look forward to adding this and more creative moments and “out-of-the-box” ideas to my facilitation toolbox!

JaMara Jean: Branching off from the previous question, I think I want to create spaces like this in Westover where students can join together and be in the presence of people with identities like them. Different from any of the affinity groups, such as WALSA, BSU, Spectrum, A.S.I.A., and the Jewish Student Alliance, I think holding conferences similar to SDLC for specific groups will be a goal I would like to reach. I think inviting local schools to participate as well in the various conferences that may be held will especially be key, as I believe the priority would be getting participation up.

I believe something like this is necessary because, before SDLC, I hadn’t encountered very many people in Westover who identified so similarly to me. It was a really beautiful space when we were able to go into breakout rooms and have discussions. If I could do something that could even remotely resemble the power of those groups, I would be very glad.

I think another powerful activity that we did at SDLC, which ties into my aforementioned point, was Silent Movement. This was an activity which, interestingly enough, required the use of Zoom. Participants were asked to “hide non-video participants” and turn their cameras off. The facilitator would then read an identity or a prompt, and anyone who resonated with that particular identity would be asked to turn their camera on. Briefly, everyone under that identity umbrella would be able to see each other. The facilitator would say something along the lines of “Look at who is in this space. Look at who is not in this space. Reflect on the importance of both.” And any of the participants would then turn their cameras off and the facilitator would move on.

I’ve done an activity very similar to this, but I’ve never had an experience as unique as this one. I appreciated how, in this instance, you only saw whoever identified with whatever the facilitator was reading. I think it was, though rather brief, a beautiful moment where you could see others like yourself. I appreciated it further because it made you think about what you were seeing. The types of people identifying with what, how diverse one identity can truly be, and probably most notably, the number of people identifying with it.

I want to try and do versions very similar to these in Westover, especially in this format so that we can get the full effect of the activity. I think it will especially help us to think deeply about the voices missing from our community and begin to find ways to bring those voices into our community.

Maggie Nuñez-Fernandez: Through my work in the Learning Center, I’m learning from students what their stumbling blocks are and I want to see how I can work on creating a better, more equitable playing field for students when it comes to learning and effectively using studying skills.

I also have always felt that I struggle with communication. At POCC, I was inspired by a workshop led by Rosetta Lee [an educational consultant] on Cross Cultural Communication and really want to dive into this concept and see how best I can learn and use this knowledge in the dorm, so that students recognize their differences in how they communicate and therefore better understand each other.

Are there particular conference discussions, speakers, or experiences that particularly inspired you?

JaMara Jean: I appreciated both keynote speakers, Lyla June [an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer] and Dr. Bettina L. Love [author and University of Georgia professor], and I felt that both were incredibly inspiring in their respective ways.

With Lyla, I appreciated her words from the Native perspective and being able to experience things from her culture, including the song she sang and the poem she read.

I particularly appreciated Dr. Love’s words and how she was able to discuss issues being faced in multiple communities and racial groups. It was very enlightening and informative, and not only provided me with a better perspective in terms of combating racism and moving towards a more anti-racist society, but also made me think about things I hadn’t thought of before.

I was also inspired by every student I encountered, their positivity and acceptance, and their open-mindedness.

Maggie Nuñez-Fernandez: In addition to Rosetta Lee, who I talked about above, there were so many, including the keynote speeches of Eddie Glaude, Jr. [chair of Princeton University’s Department of African American Studies and author] and Bettina Love, as well as one session called Grading and Equity with [educators] Joe Feldman and Mark Boswell. And I really enjoyed the workshop with Khyati Joshi [author and a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University].

A Source Of Inspiration And Growth

Other conference attendees from Westover — Mary Taylor-Lewis, Kira DeSimone, Eva Zegarra, Shamair Todson, and Alexandra McKnight — also summed up their own experiences at the conference.

“What I learned over the course of the week,” Mary said, “was that while I may miss the travel and the grandiosity of this huge event, the sense of togetherness and solidarity was definitely translated through the online conference platform. The urgency of making our schools have equity and justice at its core, while ensuring all students feel like they can thrive was definitely communicated. I was still giving the keynote speakers standing ovations ... even if it was from my living room!”

“At the end of each day of the conference,” Kira explained, “I would debrief the day with the group of the students. Hearing about their experiences, thoughts, and ideas really proved to me how impactful and powerful SDLC can be for students. The students approached each day with an excitement and intentionality that made my heart warm. I am so looking forward to seeing how these students carry what they learned from SDLC back to Westover and throughout the rest of their high school experiences.”

“As a first-time attendee,” Eva said, “POCC provided me with the opportunity to grow and connect with others through just the basic act of listening. We shared with each other our experiences, trials and tribulations, and most importantly, how we can work together to move forward as progressive and inclusive educators.”

“After 13 years in independent school life,” Shamair noted, “I’ve finally made it to POCC! While I mourn the lost opportunities for in-person connections, the gems from guest speakers and fellow educators are still being dropped.”

Alexandra added, “I hope to put best practices into play in my work supporting Westover’s new Black Student Union by continuing conversations and collaboration with advisors from different schools.”