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Diversity Awareness

iUpstate

Upstate South Carolina boasts the highest international investment per capita than any other region in the United States. With such high numbers of “ex-pats” (ex-patriots) moving into the area each year, iUpstate identified the need for a comprehensive, user-fed website that provides answers to some of the most common questions asked by these internationals, regardless of country of origin. The website is located at www.iUpstate.org. 

Know Difference

Members of the Know Difference Team recognized that often good news is overshadowed by the bad news in today’s society. Know Difference decided to promote South Carolina’s good news…already existing, dynamic youth programs that have daily impact and address diversity. Team members reviewed three programs and narrowed their focus to Unite Summerton. Unite Summerton brings together students from two local Summerton schools one public, Scotts Branch, and one private, Clarendon Hall, to celebrate and promote diversity amongst young people.

Leadership Landscape

The Leadership Landscape Speaker Series is a program designed to bring local leaders with diverse backgrounds, and from a variety of different industries, into public elementary, middle and high schools to talk to students about the path to professional success. Many of the speakers identified for this series will share the characteristic of being distinctive in their respective fields due to their gender, racial, or ethnic background.

#LikeAGirl

For the past 20 years, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce has hosted dozens of high school students annually for Business Week, which seeks to prepare young adults for their future by “introducing them to the principles of leadership, teamwork and the American free enterprise system while promoting self-reliance, individual responsibility and entrepreneurship”. Diversity and inclusion are crucial components of these principles. #LikeAGirl will be providing modules to the Business Week students this July on the concepts of diversity, inclusion, and bias.

Marion: ReCapturing Kids Hearts

Recapturing Kids Hearts, a community action project which will bring together a diverse group of people to impact the lives of some of our students who are in the most need, seeks to provide them with opportunities to be college and/or career ready. The district’s mission is to educate, prepare and inspire all students and this includes students who are at-risk of not being college and/or career ready due to various factors.

Melanges

The group anticipates exciting and unique activities in the schools drawing on the creativity of the teachers and the resources of our team. Team members hope that music, art, literature, poetry, social studies, geography, sports, etc., will be encompassed in the “Diversity Awareness Week” and the team is committed to ensuring that these activities not cost the school anything as Team Melange will provide the resources to staff and promote the week as needed.

Midlands Mix

The Midlands Mix will assist a Midlands high school in developing a keener appreciation for its diverse student population by providing a forum for students to mix, engage in self-selected activities, and form trusting relationships. During spring 2008, students will be led in facilitated exercises and discussions that will result in the formation of an on-going student organization that will be formally organized during the 2008 – 2009 school year.

Monnie and the Magical 8

Members of Monnie and the Magical 8 sought to teach young people to “Take a Second Look.” Understanding that discrimination begins in middle school, members of Monnie and the Magical 8 set their goal to urge middle school students to look beyond their classmates’ clothes, hair color, weight, or height.

Nine 4 Youth

Nine 4 Youth group members are playing a critical role in an exciting initiative called Challenge Day in two Midlands high schools. Challenge Day is a youth-based national experiential learning program that started in California in 1987 and works with hundreds of schools yearly to diffuse tensions and diversity-related challenges in middle and high schools. The vision of Challenge Day is to create a school environment where every child feels safe, loved and celebrated.

One Fairfield

Purpose:

The goal of One Fairfield is to create an opportunity for the student bodies of Fairfield Central High School and Richard Winn Academy to foster communication and ultimately establish relationships with each other. As a result of the racial composition of each school, student exposure to diversity in the education setting is limited. Richard Winn has a predominantly Caucasian student body, and Fairfield Central High School has a predominantly African American student body. While the schools are separated by only 5 miles in Winnsboro, SC, their current interactions are limited and educational opportunities vary. One Fairfield poses a plan for a purposeful interaction between the two student bodies.