Cliff Buchan
News Editor

On a balmy and summer-like night last week, four ISD 831 secondary principals spent their evening at a Forest Lake home meeting with four Hmong families.

It was the second time since January that school administrators have paused from their regular schedules to meet with the new residents of the district.

A third meeting is planned this spring as the administrators reach out to Hmong families on an informal basis as a way to get to know the parents, said Marc Peterson, principal at Southwest Junior High School.

As the April 19th meeting unfolded for Peterson and fellow second lead principals Steve Massey, Ben Lewis and Gayle McGrane, ISD 831 was being chastised for a lack of diversity education and programs.

Ironically, the night of principalís gathering came as Forest Lake City Council conducted a special meeting with its human rights commission to help determine the future role of the commission. The school district was a common target for criticism at Forest Lake City Hall last week.

Diversity ignored?

Are topics of diversity being ignored in Forest Lake Area Schools?

Carissa Fredrickson, spokesperson for the district, said diversity is a district-wide focus for students and staff at all grade levels.

The communications coordinator said students and staff have taken part in a host of in-service training and programs throughout the school year.

During a back-to-school workshop for staff in August, she said Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., director of intercultural life at Central College, Pella, IA, spoke to staff on issues of diversity, race relations, community stereotypes and self esteem.

Moore also worked with a group of secondary students to teach them how to combat stereotypes and evaluate their personal beliefs.

Both are examples of steps the district is taking to address diversity issues, Fredrickson said.

The district focus continued with a Jan. 17 all staff in-service that utilized the Martin Luther King Jr. Day to attend workshops on diversity topics that could be later used by teachers in the classroom. The topics ranged from examining bias to issues involving poverty and health.

Throughout the district, individual schools have been working on diversity plans of their own, Fredrickson said. Each school has a comprehensive diversity plan specific for its building, she said.

Throughout the district, schools have been involved with diversity topics through class studies or awareness programs, she added.

School examples

Here are some examples:

ïForest Lake High School has started a student SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) group and has had a number of its teachers complete the adult SEED training.

ìOur teachers do a great job of connecting with students who are struggling with being different and fitting in if they are new to the school,î Massey said.

ìEarlier this year, a social studies teacher invited a group of Hmong students to his room after school to simply talk and discuss issues,î he added. ìThis is a great example of ways our teachers are connecting with students.î

ïLinwood Elementary hosted an in-service with staff on understanding diversity and how it affects teaching and learning.

ïColumbus Elementary will have at least two diversity lyceums for students that would signify and celebrate differences.

ïALC and Central Montessori Elementary have participated in activities to promote awareness of differences by collecting funds to help people in need and reading books together that cover diversity issues.

ïScandia Elementary did a diversity study and discussed the outcome on what staff really knew about diversity. Teachers reviewed three books on Hmong, Indian and Japanese-American cultures.

ïWyoming Elementary has a long list of diversity initiatives that include staff development in-service speakers and a building behavior management model built on respect of staff, respect of self and respect of others and property.

A good example

Southwest Junior High School is one building that has taken extra steps to deal with its changing student population mix, Peterson said.

This winter, students at Southwest joined students at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis for a diversity exchange program. Students from Southwest spent a day at Patrick Henry followed by an exchange visit by Patrick Henry kids to Southwest in March, the principal said.

ìWeíve done a number of things this school year,î Peterson said. The student exchange is just one example, he said.

On Jan. 17 the school brought in Nou Katzmerek, a counselor at Arlington High School in St. Paul. The speaker focused on issues involving Hmong and provided helpful information to the school staff, Peterson said.

With 24 Hmong students enrolled at Southwest, Peterson said it is important for staff and students to relate.

ìWe need to learn about their culture,î Peterson added.

The meeting with Hmong parents last week is another example of the district reaching out to learn more about the needs of parents, he said. It is also an informal way to get to know people, Peterson said.

The meeting was arranged and hosted by Karen Christensen, Forest Lake, a Ramsey County employee who works with a number of Hmong residents who live in ISD 831.

The first session in January saw six Hmong families attend. Four were at last weekís gathering, Peterson said.

The meetings are a way to open dialogue with Hmong families and gain a better understanding of the families and their backgrounds, he said. One additional meeting will take place, he said, before the end of school in early June.

ìWe wanted to be proactive and meet,î Peterson said.

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