Diversity in Lexington’s Schools: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Lexington’s 20th Annual CommUNITY Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy will be honored on Sunday, January 20th, from 1:30 to 4:00 PM with a special program highlighting and celebrating the history of diversity in the Lexington Public Schools (LPS).
The program will open with Robert J. Harris, Assistant Superintendent of LPS Human Resources, as well a panel of current LPS educators: Melissa Buttaro, Lexington High School (LHS) Guidance Counselor; William Cole, former dean and current LHS teacher; and Ann Kim Tenhor, Instructional Technology Specialist in the elementary schools. All of the panelists received the Sharyn Wong-Chan/Sara Harrington Diversity Award (sponsored by the Chinese-American Association of Lexington, or CAAL, and the Diversity Task Force of the Lexington School Department) for their remarkable diversity work in our schools. Malik Alfred, LHS 2012 graduate, former METCO Scholar and currently a student at Dean College, will join the panel discussion to share his unique perspective on the issue of diversity in the Lexington Public Schools. The MLK Day program will also include musical selections presented by the Bowman Elementary School Chorus.
|In honor of the 300th anniversary of Lexington’s founding, the program will seek to present an understanding of how the town’s historical demographic changes and attitudes have shifted to create the community of families, educators and administrators represented in our schools today. Through a historical lens, participants will share how dedication to promoting diversity has become a pillar of the Lexington Public Schools. In addition, the panelists will each share how they have brought diversity into the work they do in Lexington’s schools and talk about the issue from their personal and professional perspective and experience. There will be an interactive opportunity for questions and answers from the audience.
The CommUNITY Commemoration begins at 1:30 pm with a walk from the Lexington Battle Green to Cary Hall, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue. The indoor program will begin promptly at 2:00 pm. Participants are invited to join the walk and/or attend the program at Cary Hall, which is wheelchair accessible and will be open starting at 1:30pm. Admission is free and all are welcome. For further information contact Jill Smilow at [email protected].
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education”.
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
