Our school is closed tomorrow to honor the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom we celebrated with a special assembly Friday morning. Photos and video from those activities will be shared in the coming days.
This past Thursday, Academy seventh-grader Alexis Cunningham won the junior division at this year's Statewide MLK Oratorical Contest. I encourage you to read the Columbus Dispatch article about the event that includes a video link to her entire speech.
I also want to take a moment to highlight work by our parents this fall and winter that have enriched our school and taken aspects of our strategic vision to the next level.
And I want to invite you -- urge you, really -- to participate.
For a school filled with families from so many different cultures, our understanding of others' experiences can often be shallow and distant. Our lives are busy and programmed to an academic schedule. Yet we know one of the most important ways this education is exceptional is that the school community is based in respect and relationships that we have for and with one another.
Even the second tenet of our Strategic Vision underscores the school's mission by seeking to elevate students' understanding of difference through elements of cultural competency that emphasize skills, attitudes and knowledge needed to engage in a pluralistic society and ever-changing world.
I have been struck by the exceptional events put on this year by ¡HOLA! (a mid-October Latin American cultural artifacts exhibit and speaker from the University of Michigan) and our Parent SEED group, which championed the Crossing Borders art exhibit and documentary film in early December that highlighted the refugee experience while also giving a voice to all those in our community who come from refugee families.
On Wednesday, January 24, our Parents' Association of Columbus Academy (PACA) is organizing the showing of the documentary "13th" in our dining hall, followed by a moderated discussion led by Dr. Mark Lomax II, musician and socio-political speaker.
This is a powerful film with parts that are hard to take in. I encourage you to go. If you do, you will show your children what the actions around cultural competency look like: developing skills, attitude and knowledge. Take an interest in those around you so you begin to know, understand and (hopefully) learn from the cultural world they inhabit.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in our dining hall. Refreshments will be provided as well as childcare for potty-trained children up to eighth grade. Students in grades 9-12 are encouraged to attend the screening and discussion with their parents/guardians.
Students as young as seventh grade may want to attend. This is fine if they are accompanied by a parent/guardian, but we are sensitive to age recommendations for the film, such as from Common Sense Media.
In order to make proper arrangements, we ask that you RSVP by January 20 to Kelly Vaziri at [email protected], and please note in your response if you need childcare, for how many and the ages.
After that event on the 24th, you will have another opportunity to broaden your cultural knowledge when MOSAIC hosts Hidden Figures Revealed featuring fun children's activities and a keynote by COSI's new CEO Dr. Frederic Bertley in late February (details will follow).
We have wonderfully strong, supportive parents -- many parents -- planning and supporting these events! I hope you will make every effort to join them and continue to strengthen this special school community.
Warmly,
Melissa
Head of School
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