Multicultural Committee At Mercer Middle School

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Multicultural Committee At Mercer Middle School
W. Boulew March 2007
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How Did We Start The Team?

• Invitation from Mr. Ric Gauriloff
• About 50 to 60 Parents Participated
• Parents Listed out Their Expectations Wishes of
  The New School in Meeting Their Childrens Needs
• With Input form Teachers, That Became the Mission
  and Belief Statement of Mercer

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Our School Mission

• Foster Independent Thinking
• Meet the Evolving Intellectual, Physical, Social
  and Emotional Needs of a Diverse Student Body 

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How Does Mercer Expect to Accomplish That?

• Providing a Quality, Transitional Education in
• a Safe, Caring Environment
• Promoting Pride and Respect
• Building a Bond Among Students, Parents,
• Staff the Community to Ensure No Child Is
  Left Behind

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The Problem

• Students Did Not All Come From The Same
  Background.
• 44 Students Are People of Color
• 33 of Them are Children of Emigrants
• 5 of White Students Identify Themselves as
  European Emigrants

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Flags of Countries Represented At Mercer
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Who Are Members of MCC?

• Parents
• Staff
• Teachers
• Principal

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Our Vision "We strive for the pinnacle of
academic success, while promoting the student's
overall well being in an unbiased school
environment."
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How Does MCC Align with Mercers Mission?

• MCC supports ALL of Mercers Mission and Commits
  to Partner in Every Aspect of Its Goal. It
  added Initiatives to

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MCCs Unique Goals

• We Add value by Educating the School Community
  About Our Diverse Cultural Heritages
• While Focusing on The Academic Success of the
  Under-Represented Minority Population at Mercer
  

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MCCs Mission Statement

• Ensure that the Needs of all Minority Students
  are Met and No Child is Left Behind Regardless of
  Race, Gender or Ethnic Background.
• Partner with Faculty and Staff to Ensure All
  Academic Achievement Gaps are Closed and That
  Social and Ethnical Differences are Valued and
  Honored by All Members of the School.

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MCC Beliefs..

• The Parents, the Staff and the Faculty Must Have
  High Academic Expectations for ALL Students,
  Regardless of Multicultural Background
• The Achievement Bar Must be Continually Raised
  for Each Student, According to His or Her Ability
  Regardless of Race or Ethnic Background
• Ensure that Activities to Enhance Academic
  Success Must be Promoted Equitably

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Our Demography is Changing

• We Need to Serve the Growing Community of
  Learners Who Have Different Experiences of life
  From Those Who are Teaching them

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Percentage of Students by Race/Ethnicity
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What Have We Done So Far?

• Learning about Each Other and Broadening Mercers
  Horizon Was Our 1st Approach
• Several Activities Were Planned and Executed

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Multicultural Festival June 2006
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MCC Festival

• Exhibition Was Set-up By Continent
• 25 Countries From 6 Continents were Represented
• Food, Arts Crafts Were Displayed
• Each Student Had Opportunity to Answer 25
  Questions from The Displays
• Prizes Like IPODs, Gift Certificates From
  Boarders and EB Games Were Awarded

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• Africa
• Ethiopia
• Nigeria
• Sierra Leon
• Somalia
• Zambia

• South Central America - Caribbean
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Columbia
• Jamaica
• Peru
• Porto Rico

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• Asia
• Bangladesh
• China
• India
• Japan
• Korea
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Viet Nam

• Europe
• Denmark
• Germany
• Ireland
• Portugal
• Russia

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• North America
• Northeast
• Southeast
• Northwest
• Southwest
• Native American

• Canada
• Australia

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Diversity Awareness Training August 2006

• 95 Mercers Staff (98)
• 6 Parents Attended
• It Helped Start the Process of Examining Our Own
  Bias and Stereotypes and Its Impact on Others.

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Invited Guest Speakers
Mr. Bryan from MSSAC Mrs. Pam Taggart - NAACP of
Loudoun Mrs. Bennett Roberts - LCPS Outreach
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Collaborated With PTA

• Mercers PTA Executive Committee Gave 2K for the
  Multicultural Festival in 2006
• Volunteers from PTAs List Donated Food and
  Manned Exhibition Tables during MCC Festival
• PTA Currently Allocated Another 2K For This
  Years Effort

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International Club

• The Largest Club at Mercer
• 55 Students Signed up
• Meets Twice a Month to Learn About other Cultures
• Guest Speakers Participated So Far From
• Ethiopia Bolivia
• India Ireland
• Colombia

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• International Pot Luck Dinner
• Over 100 Families Participated
• Staff and Teachers Were Invited and Several
  Attended
• International Music were played by Mercer Guitar
  Band
• LCPS Resources were Displayed

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Library Advisory Committee

• Several Members of MCC Participated and
  Endorsed The Need to Reflect The Diverse
  Population in Collections of Resources At
  Mercers Library

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International Book Drive

• Helped Collecting 84 Childrens Books From Other
  Countries Written in 8 Different Languages
• A Permanent Display of These Books are Set in The
  Library
• As Students and Parents Travel, More Books Will
  Be Donated

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Diversity In Education/Career Day

• Minority Members and Families Participated
  Showcasing Their Profession as
• Cardiologist
• Mechanical Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Research Scientist and professor from Georgetown
  University
• Proposal Manager for Federal Government
• Private Consultant in Finance Accounting

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PEER Tutoring

• MCC Initiative to have 8Th Grade Honor Students
  Help 6th and 7th Graders
• Dr. Brewer Headed the Project
• Several Students Participated in 2006
• Still Part of the Remediation Effort to help
  Those Struggling in LA

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Peer Tutoring I have noticed a dramatic change
in my attending students.  They are more
confident when reading aloud and silently,
participate in classroom discussions more, and
earn higher grades on comprehension tests. Their
writing has also improved The program has
provided my students with improved writing
skills, enhanced reading skills, better
comprehension, and self-confidence in the
classroom. Comment From Ms. McDonald 6th Grade
LA Teacher
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Proposed Initiatives For The Year
DODs Support for After School Tutoring Student/P
arent Survey on Climate of Equity at
Mercer Proposal to Have Freedom High School
Honor Students Tutor Mercer Students
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Proposed Initiatives Cont Work with Mercer in
Data Analysis of Current SOL to Help Close
Achievement Gap Program for Student Led Diversity
Awareness Presentations Annual Multicultural
Festival
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Summary

• In Light of the Significant Achievement Gap that
  Exist Here and All Over The Nations School
  System, We Have to Put More Focus On
  Methodologies to Successfully Educated ALL of our
  Children.

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Summary Cont

• We Have to Believe That Everyone Has a Potential
  to Succeed and Expect itIf They are Given the
  Right Support
• As Parents and Educators, It is our Obligation to
  Provide Equitable Resources and Then, It is Our
  right to Expect Excellence from ALL

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Summary Personal Reflection

• Our Nations Future Depends on The Successes of
  ALL Children Regardless of Their Skin Color or
  Country of Origin
• America Can No Longer Be The Greatest and Richest
  if We Only Educate and Expect Excellence From
  Just 50 of Our Children. We Can Not Win or Even
  Participate in The Global Economy With Half our
  Resources. We Need To Change Our Strategies
  Immediately