Dear Parents,

In our advisory this week, and in the spirit of Martin Luther King, we approached the topic of diversity. We began by learning about Ruby Bridges, the brave first grader who was the first black student to be integrated into a public elementary school in 1960 New Orleans. We shared Robert Coles’ The Story of Ruby Bridges and then watched a short documentary. Next, we listened to the music of biracial musician/actor Lenny Kravitz and watched a short interview with him about his experience with discrimination in elementary school.  Students also made the connection with some of the discussions we have had about literacy and fair access to educational resources in our Reader To Reader class. We talked about the need for sensitivity around race and diversity, and about how we want to be careful about not judging others based on skin color or other superficial criteria.

Here are the links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkBJcR9ZUjw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wsqtg-Rs7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx1zdngX0DQ

Best,

Jilly