D E F IN ING DIVE RSIT Y AND I NC LUS I O N
Continued from page 25
Sam LoGerfo-Olsen
10th grade - Lakeside School
I think the first facet of diversity that pops
into our head when we hear the word di-
versity is race and ethnicity. I think that
most people consider a “diverse” school as
one with people of many different racial
and ethnic backgrounds. However, the di-
versity of students and adults means more
than just race. I think a lot of people don’t
consider the LGBTQ+ population in schools
and how helpful it is having faculty and staff
who are part of that community teaching
and/or being accessible to students.
Rania Uppal
12th grade - Lakeside School
I think the school is actively trying to pro-
mote diversity in thought, especially in
terms of our worldly and political views. The
staff has made this clear by trying to talk
about current events in classes, and also
bringing in speakers with differing views...
Personally, I appreciate this and I’m sure
other students do too. When I think of inclu-
sion in the context of Lakeside, I think of the
school trying to promote an environment
where everyone feels comfortable and able
to participate in a variety of areas.
Elda Kahssay
12th grade - Lakeside School
I would say that in my time at Lakeside I
have seen an intentional effort to diversify
the curriculum, especially in my humanities
courses. However, I think there is a discon-
Page 26 Summer 2020
“For adults, I feel like
there is often an urgency
to check off boxes when
it comes to representa-
tion... Additionally, there
is often a lack of diver-
sity within these topics
which is recognized
by students.”
nect between adults and students in the
community when it comes to what diversity
actually looks like. For adults, I feel like there
is often an urgency to check off boxes when
it comes to representation... Additionally,
there is often a lack of diversity within these
topics which is recognized by students. The
story of one gay man does not reflect a suf-
ficient amount of the LGBTQ+ experiences
nor does one PoC focused novel encom-
pass all of the varied PoC experiences.
Leeah Michael
12th grade - Lakeside School
I think that when diversity is brought up
at school, the topic of racial diversity often
first comes to mind, especially for students.
However, over the past few years through
class work and discussions, we’ve begun
to see that diversity encompasses not only
race, but also class, religion, political ideol-
CSEE Connections