Friends,
This week I have spent a great deal of time with our Board of Trustees. On Sunday, I facilitated the annual Board Retreat, and for most of this week, six Board members and I have participated in the Understanding and Analyzing Systemic Racism workshop that the Crossroads faculty and staff experienced in August. This commitment of time and energy from our Board is impressive (to date, half our Board has participated in this learning) and is offered on behalf of the students, faculty and staff, and families at Crossroads. Their participation demonstrates a commitment to living out our mission at all levels of our organization. It is also important work besides, not just for Crossroads, but for our region as well.
Increasing our understanding and analysis of systemic racism, other systems of oppression and injustice, and power will help us build capacity for conversation, change, and learning. Often people identify this as part of who we are, as a hallmark of the experience and offering of Crossroads. That we offer a challenging curriculum, that we are indeed college prep (in terms of academics and self knowledge), that we produce creative problem solvers are often givens. I submit that working on one will make the other better, and since we can be better at both, we might as well benefit from the synergy of our attention and commitment to each aspect of our identity. I am committed to this work and am proud to have the support of our Board.
In addition to the benefits this workshop offers our faculty, staff, and Board of Trustees, Crossroads is also able to enter into relationships with other organizations interested in anti-bias/anti-racism work. I am only beginning to explore the benefits of these relationships and am proud of these partnerships-in-the-making. These partnerships further the reach of our network of mutuality and keep us vibrant and participatory in the improvement of our region as well as our school.
With great expectations,
Jason