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| Diversity: Capitalizing on ethnic, cultural differences By Stefanie Hoffman--Half Moon Bay Review Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 4:45 PM PDT Holding crayon-colored masks shaped like birds to their faces, a group of students danced their way onto the Hatch Elementary School stage - the last Friday afternoon rehearsal before the long-awaited fiesta. Nearby, a teacher gave instructions in Spanish over the music. Two days later the children danced and read poetry while parents shared traditional food in a blending of cultures, languages and people. "We just party," said Principal Suzanne Michelony. "It's the one day when language differences don't mean a thing." The fiesta is put on by the school's immersion program, she explained. The program slowly integrates Spanish with English in the classroom so that the students ultimately end up speaking both languages. Michelony says that about half the students at the school are native Spanish speakers but slowly channels of communication are opened so that all the students can understand each other. "That's the one thing - when you come to this school, you don't get the prejudice," said Michelony. "They don't see color." Although the immersion program is unique to Hatch, the first component of the new plan aims to promote diversity in much the same way - by opening channels of communication at all Cabrillo Unified School District campuses. Diversity issues are of prime concern because the community is growing more diverse all the time. The aim of the committee was to create a plan that would acknowledge uniqueness, insure respect and equity, and provide opportunities for common experiences to build unity. Because many parents only speak one language, one of the general objectives for promoting diversity includes establishing permanent full-time liaisons at each school. The liaisons would help facilitate communication between the school, parents and community. Another would be to recruit and retain teachers and staff repre-senting the diversity of the student population. Many students feel that they can better identify with someone who shares their same culture or language, committee members said, and teachers who share things like ethnicity and culture of the students can often better understand their needs. "It's not enough to recruit, you have to retain them," said Allan Kass, the action team leader for the diversity component. Another objective is to establish a diversity board that would reflect the ethnic, social and academic make-up of the community. The board would support annual training for faculty, staff and administration on an array of diversity issues. Training related to board policy on respect and equity for all students and staff was also proposed in the new strategic plan. The committee suggested establishing conflict resolution programs at each school to decrease bullying. The plan also calls for establishing a forum to provide students a space to provide input about school decisions related to race, culture and prejudice. The definition of diversity includes many types of differences, not only ethnic or racial, committee members said. Michelony echoes the need, pointing to a boy who uses a wheelchair but nevertheless participates fully in physical education activities outside on the expansive lawn in the back of the school. "Part of being diverse is being accepting of everyone," she said. |