Skip to Content

Diversity Awareness

A S.E.A.T. at the Table

Greenville’s downtown is flourishing through its beautiful scenery, waterfalls, award-winning restaurants, art galleries, local shopping, farmer’s market, entertainment, sports, and warm-hearted neighbors. This DLI team was inspired to enhance our loving community adding a combination of the infectious and positive aspects of pay-it-forward with the spirit of unity.  We have created A S.E.A.T.

Freshmen to Finish

The Freshman to Finish capstone project seeks to assist in finding transportation solutions to the problem of transient students in Greenville County. Transients are students who move in the middle of the year and must attend a new school, and although South Carolina Law allows transient students to continue attending their old school until the end of the year, many families and even schools lack the transportation resources to take advantage of this law. This gap in resources can have devastating academic consequences for students.

Diversity Detectives

The goal of our project is to support equitable and inclusive economic growth in South Carolina by encouraging businesses and non-profit organizations to recruit and hire more diverse people. Diversifying the workforce so that all people have equal opportunities and fair compensation is both the right thing and the smart thing to do for South Carolina’s future. South Carolina has persistent gender and racial income gaps that impede economic growth, economic mobility, and human development. Diverse companies perform better.

Involve Evolve

The goal of Involve Evolve is to provide cadets at SC Youth Academy with the opportunity to gain lifeskills that will benefit their future life decisions.

The project consists of two pilot initiatives. The first initiative “Evolve” engages the expertise of Sowing Seeds into the Midlands, a grassroots nonprofit located in Columbia, SC, committed to helping youth ages 13-18 thrive. Sowing Seeds will provide Evolve, a 6-week course that takes a deep dive into effective communication, conflict resolution, and managing emotions. Through interactive exercises and current cultural references, cadets will explore the ways their habits in these areas can affect their relationships at home, school, and in the community. This training is not currently being offered to the cadets but has been identified by Academy leadership as a necessary component to a well-rounded program.

Team Tapestry

“A Day of Conversation: Active Listening and Community Engagement within Our Schools” is based on the national #ReviveCivility program, created by The National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD). The purpose of this conversation is to bring people together with different views so they can talk about the state of the country and how we can bridge divides that make it harder to solve our most pressing problems. Team Tapestry also added a student component – in hopes of fostering civility and active listening skills in our future leaders.

The A Team

Celebrate Diversity Activity Book

Celebrate Diversity is an eight-page activity book for elementary age youth focusing on diversity, culture, and respecting differences. Students participate in facilitator-led group discussions and dyads, followed by time to color and complete activities.

All — In

The team members of All-In worked with the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council (GCCRC), which promotes positive relationships within the community, equal opportunity and fairness for all members of the community and awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity. The GCCRC has existed for over 50 years in Columbia, but a recent survey taken showed that the community at large is not aware of the GCCRC or its significant contribution to the community.

Altoids

Question: Does diversity tension affect student performance in our public schools? Process: selected Lake Forest Elementary School due to student diversity; studied school data; identified diversity mixtures; evaluated school motto/mission, and requirements; conducted interviews.

Anderson: Bulldogs for Business

The focus of Bulldogs for Business will be on the special needs, self-contained population of students at the middle and high school level – approximately the 20-30 students who are on the ‘certificate only’ track (i.e. not eligible to earn a High School diploma). The goal is to help prepare these students for life beyond school. Bulldogs for Business will provide classes on etiquette, resume building, and plan to host job fairs that include companies where this population could work successfully.

Armonía

Armonía -- Spanish for "harmony" -- is a two-pronged project to create a music room for the homeless parishioners of Triune Mercy Center and to arrange for much-needed office space for the Hispanic American Women's Association.