Mount Si brings back diversity committee
November 13, 2008
By Laura Geggel
The results of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day assembly have prompted the formation of a diversity committee at Mount Si High School.
In events well-known to the Snoqualmie Valley, the Rev. Ken Hutcherson asked that two Mount Si teachers be fired after one booed him and another asked him how he could stand for equality if he didn’t stand for gay rights at the King assembly early this year. In April, Hutcherson and about 100 people then protested the Day of Silence, an event organized by the student Gay Straight Alliance.
Following the protest, Mount Si Principal Randy Taylor decided to test the waters with a survey — he wanted to learn about how students perceived issues of diversity and respect. After reviewing the survey’s results and holding a student forum, the Mount Si administration decided to form a diversity group called the Steering Committee.
“We went from crisis mode to proactive mode,” Taylor said.
The Puget Sound Educational Service District created the survey, which was given to about 10 percent of the student body in May. Participating students were chosen randomly; students from the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly planning committee, the ASB and the Gay Straight Alliance took the survey, too.
“I thought the results gave a picture of how students felt about diversity issues and served as a way to encourage leadership to take some action,” said Melia LaCour, equity and education program manager at the PSESD.
The survey elicited responses like “Although there are definitely many more students who believe in equality… at Mount Si there is still a large population of those kids who make others feel uncomfortable or feel unwelcome.” Other responses accused staff of being close-minded or of playing favorites, while some responses said Mount Si students and staff were treated fairly.
One part of the survey asked students how strongly they agreed or disagreed with certain statements.
Only 2.4 percent of respondents said they strongly agreed with the statement, “people of different beliefs and traditions treat each other with respect at Mt. Si.” Of 167 students, 27 percent said they disagreed and 48 percent marked they strongly disagreed.
During a Sept. 19 staff meeting, the PSESD reviewed some of the survey’s results with the school.
“The staff had some concerns with the survey,” Taylor said. Some felt the survey asked leading questions. Others felt the 10 percent of students involved in the survey was not representative of the student body.
Still, “what came out of the dialogue with the staff has been a desire to pursue diversity,” Taylor said.
At the Learning Improvement Day Oct. 10, teachers had a dialogue with about a dozen students, who talked about their experiences relating to diversity and respect at Mount Si.
“That was quite powerful,” Counselor Thomas Tilton said. “The students were very frank.”
Counselor Elaine Maimom, who had taken five of the dozen students to a PSESD diversity retreat Sept. 27, said the dialogue impressed many of the staff.
“We asked them to list derogatory words they hear at the school,” Maimom said. “We asked them one thing they would never like to see happen again at Mount Si and one thing they would like to see at Mount Si. They could have gone on all day.
“After the students went home, they had a private discussion. They just couldn’t say enough good things about these students.”
Together, Tilton and Maimom decided to reinstate the Steering Committee, which had started in the late 1990s at Mount Si but had fallen by the wayside. Taylor announced their plans for the Steering Committee at the Oct. 23 school board meeting.
Tilton was involved in the initial Steering Committee, which he began in 1997 after attending a PSESD diversity workshop. The workshop inspired him and other staff to create the Day of Respect. Held every other year, the Day of Respect involved a motivational speaker, group discussions and a speak out — a forum allowing students to discuss issues bothering them and float ideas about improving the high school climate.
The ASB later took over the Day of Respect, but Tilton said the Steering Committee, in addition to celebrating diversity and promoting respect at Mount Si, would take back the reigns for the Day of Respect.
“Over the years, the (Day of Respect) changed,” Tilton said. “I think it lost a little potency.”
Tilton said he envisioned the Steering Committee having a school administrator, three staff members, students, a parent, a school board member and two members from the community.
“We want to bring as many voices to the table as we can,” Tilton said. To learn more, e-mail Thomas Tilton at tiltont@svsd410.org.
Once formed, the committee will devise programs and goals dealing with diversity and respect. The Committee will use the PSESD survey, the Healthy Youth Survey and “any kind of instrument we can use to glean out diversity issues,” Tilton said. “We hope to put forth a plan that we will be able to sustain year after year.”
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