by Cathie Ely, OVWS Enrollment Director
Beginning in early June a new committee was formed at Orchard Valley - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Its membership consists of parents, teachers, and staff with the purpose of taking a close look at the school’s commitment and work with racism and White privilege.
DEI began by studying and editing our original diversity statement, but words alone were not going to move our school forward in this crucial work!
The “30 Day Anti-Racism Challenge” was issued, asking faculty and staff to engage in reading books, articles, viewing videos, and holding discussions around race and racism. The group formed an adult and a children’s library with content that challenges outdated beliefs.
DEI invited Corazon Swanberg, a Wadorf alumni and a young woman of color, to speak with the faculty during their August work week. Cora shared her history, daily experiences, and challenges related to race. She encouraged teachers to examine the Waldorf pedagogy. How can we bring these important lessons to our students within a Waldorf curriculum?
Connections have been made with a Vermont organization called Building Fearless Futures, a group of activists who carry the mission to mitigate racial stress in our schools and communities. On October 9th, four people from Building Fearless Futures spent the morning at Grace Farm sharing information and deepening the faculty’s understanding of racism, white supremacy and how we can stand up to what we are seeing today. There was another workshop with Building Fearless Futures on the afternoon of November 5th.
Most recently a land acknowledgement statement is being crafted. Orchard Valley recognizes that their beautiful 55-acre campus does not have an honorable past. This land was taken from the Indigenous people of this region, the Abenaki.
DEI is committed to keeping this work alive with the faculty, staff, and administration of Orchard Valley and upholding the diversity statement and putting into action the required steps needed to ensure the community is adopting an anti-oppression lens and committing to justice for all.
Orchard Valley’s Diversity Statement, revised June 2020
Orchard Valley Waldorf School commits to creating an educational and social environment in which families, faculty, and staff of diverse backgrounds feel welcomed, respected, and expressly valued. We define diversity as the broad spectrum of cultures, races, ethnicities, language speakers, genders, sexual orientations, religions and creeds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and abilities that together make up our communities, country, and world.
As a Waldorf school committed to the evolution and growth of our philosophy and our educational approach, we do not condone, and pledge not to perpetuate any of Rudolf Steiner’s work that subtly or overtly suggests discrimination or judgement toward any race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, or socio-economic group.
We are committed to deepening our understanding of how the privilege of dominant culture affects and shapes both our pedagogy and our society, and to engaging in the personal and collective self-reflection and inner work necessary to actively dismantle systems of oppression within ourselves, our school, and our communities.
