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Community Life, Equity, and Inclusion
BUILDING COMMUNITY AND EMPATHY
As Director of Community Life, Equity, and Inclusion, Millie Cartagena brings an important lens to wide-ranging activities and responsibilities across the School. Here, she shares insights into some of the ways the students and grown-ups at City and Country School develop empathy, come together as a group, and engage more deeply with the world around them through the many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that take place throughout the year.
DAISY’S PANTRY Although all Upper School students engage in events with Daisy’s Pantry, our XIIs participate on an ongoing, weekly basis, helping to organize supplies and special events for pantry guests.
At C&C, we are intentional in our efforts to build community through diversity, equity, and inclusion work! This is one of the most powerful means for us to teach and learn together, and it’s one of the ways we can build bridges across divisions and among all of our community members. This work is especially important to us because as a school, we are charged with creating an environment in which all feel welcomed, respected, supported, valued, and invited to participate fully. If we continue to put our efforts into cultivating a sense of belonging, we will create an environment in which members of our community will be able to take risks and try new things; our students will be able to discover who they are and bring their authentic selves when they come to school. This work also gives us an opportunity to take a proactive approach to integrating social justice work into all aspects of school life, which we believe is essential to nurturing and sustaining a strong and positive sense of self in our students. In short, diversity, equity, and inclusion work is crucial to an educational environment in which all members of the community thrive!
We host many school activities throughout the year that bring the C&C community together, starting with the Diversity Welcome Dinner in the fall and ending with the International Potluck Supper in the spring. Our most recent tradition—the all-community sing —has been welcomed with much joy, as you will read about on page 14. In addition
Diversity Welcome Dinner
DIVERSITY WELCOME DINNER Each fall, the school year opens with the Diversity Welcome Dinner, a great opportunity for our community members to connect with old friends and meet new ones over a shared meal.
THANKSGIVING-IN-A-BAG Our Xs, XIs, and XIIs connected with the greater community through song and service during the Thanksgiving season. The Xs and XIs performed a concert for the guests of Daisy’s Pantry at the Church of the Village, and the XIIs distributed turkeys and food collected through the Thanksgiving-in-a-bag Drive.
Collecting and organizing food for the Thanksgivingin-a-bag food drive
INTERNATIONAL SUPPER Students and families shared their cultures through food during International Supper.
BRYAN STEVENSON TALK C&C partnered with several local downtown schools to invite social justice activist, lawyer, and Just Mercy author Bryan Stevenson to give his “American Injustice” talk to families in our community.
PEOPLE OF COLOR CONFERENCE Eleven C&C teachers and administrators joined over 7,000 educators at the annual NAIS People of Color Conference in Seattle this December, the most C&C staff members ever to attend together.
to these events, students engage with the communities beyond C&C’s doors through our Community Outreach service program. We want our students to be positive and responsible members of society, and our partnership with Daisy’s Pantry, the local food pantry at The Church of the Village, has been a key initiative in our work toward this goal. Throughout the year, our students organized a Dimes for Daisy collection, a Thanksgiving-in-a-bag food drive, a winter clothing drive, Family Service Day, a book drive for Project Cicero, and much more. These service learning experiences help students strengthen their critical thinking and leadership skills, forge positive relationships with local community members, develop a greater understanding of themselves, and build empathy and respect for others. They also help them develop more informed perspectives on the world as they see—firsthand—how their participation impacts those around them. In all of this work, we continue to form and strengthen our connections with each other, and we strive to create a robust school culture in which different perspectives can coexist. We hope that these formative experiences will encourage our students to continue engaging in meaningful social change, locally and beyond, throughout their lives.
PARENT EQUITY TEAM C&C parents, faculty, and staff gather monthly to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion topics, bringing in speakers such as Michelle Wonsley-Ford, who discussed strengthening parent/ school partnerships.
Xs helped by sorting coats other donated items.
COAT AND CLOTHING DRIVE Xsstudentsorganized a coatdrive to benefitguestsofDaisy’sPantry in January 2020, helping our local neighbors in need this winter.
WELCOME TO NICK SMART C&C is pleased to welcome Nick Smart (Penelope, VIIsR) in his new role as Admissions and Parent Engagement Coordinator. In addition to his Admissions responsibilities, Nick has been working closely with Director of Community Life, Equity, and Inclusion Millie Cartagena to help bring the parent body together in celebrations and activities that promote communal wellbeing. We are delighted to have his communityfocus and parent perspective on the team!
FAMILY SERVICE DAY Students, families, faculty, and staff gathered on February 8, 2020 to serve Daisy’s Pantry guests in a festive atmosphere at C&C’s 201 space. It was a meaningful experience for all, and there are plans to create regular family service opportunities with the pantry in the coming months.
