Pollyanna Conference
On Saturday, January 11, St. Andrew’s hosted the Pollyanna Conference for the first time. The theme of the day’s conference was “Building Community Through Inquiry: Culturally Responsive Teaching, Culturally Caring Community.” This was a day for our school to come together -- students, faculty, alumni, parents, and trustees -- and examine issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It was a day of listening, sharing, and questioning.
The event kicked off with welcoming remarks from Head of School, Sean Murphy and a passionate speech by keynote speaker and author, Ali Michaels, who laid the groundwork for what the purpose and goals of the day were. In the morning breakout sessions, stories were shared within constituent groups, trading different perspectives and strategizing about ways to improve. In the afternoon, full group gathered in the DFAC theater as current students and alumni spoke on a panel about their experience with DEI at St. Andrew’s. The day ended by breaking into groups once again, creating a community-generated action plan to help guide future DEI work for St. Andrew's. Thanks to Kendall Evans and the DEI team as well as keynote speaker Dr. Ali Michael for putting on a terrific and important event.
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