Kelly is a white student attending a school with a predominately African American student population.  Kelly is very open and shares many personal experiences during discussions and through journal entries.  She's not accepted by many of the students in the class and at times other students try to poke fun at her.  Her openness and willingness to share leaves her vulnerable to negative comments and remarks.  I typically revisit our Goals For Success before they share journal entries because many of the students say they are annoyed with Kelly's poems about her boyfriend.  I occasionally redirect behavior during core programming as well.     

In the last session I facilitated an activity called Speak Out.  During this activity students are able to speak out for a group of people who are treated unfairly.  They could only speak for a group that they identified with personally.  One student spoke up for people with disabilities because her niece is blind.  Other students advocated for homosexuals, poor people, etc.  Kelly asked to speak out for a group called "Emo" (I was unfamiliar with this group but the students informed me that they are a group of people who dress a certain way and cut themselves).  Kelly shared to the group that she cut herself at times and could really relate to this group.  She also talked about some of the challenges she faced at home. 

To my amazement two of the students who usually treat Kelly poorly were extremely supportive (Jeremy and Stacia).  After she was finished speaking, Jeremy said that we shouldn't judge people because we never know what others are going through.  He also offered suggestions to help cope with the craziness she faced at home (praying, talking to friends, sports, etc).  Other students added that we need to be careful of the words we use because you don't know who you are offending. 

Stacia, who is usually very guarded, talked about her own struggles at home.  She shared that her mother was an alcoholic and smoked weed.  She also told the class that her father was addicted to crack cocaine.  She directed most of the conversation toward Kelly and related it to her experience. Kelly and Stacia continued talking after the bell rang as they headed to the next period class.    

Upcoming Professional Development Programs

Tuesday February 8, 2011 - 8:30am-10:00am

Location: Peace Learning Center - Eagle Creek Park

Topic: "New Strategies for Sparking Innovation and Creativity in Your Nonprofit"

Presenter: Ritch Hochstetler, President & CEO of uLEAD
Session Description: Albert Einstein once said, "Creativity is more important than knowledge." Though management skills are vital, effective nonprofit professionals must also embrace experiential leadership practices that fuel new ideas and approaches to address ongoing issues and challenges.  Participants in this session will learn how to:

III is busy planning and building programs for 2011: Is it February already?!

One fantastic program we want to tell you about this month is our partnership with Butler University to facilitate a conversation with students and Iraqi families that have recently moved to Indianapolis. That conversation began with a day at the museum. Ten Iraqi families gathered with 25 Butler students to have a great lunch together and tour the Indianapolis Museum of Art. During the tour, Linda Duke, Director of Education at IMA, facilitated a discussion about specific pieces of art and Visual Artist Carol White assisted everyone in creating beautiful pieces of art formed with geometric patterns. The students and families are planning to continue the connection and meet four more times throughout the semester to share personal narratives and learn from one another.

On Wednesday February 16^th we are looking forward to our second "Green Lunch" with leaders from diverse faith communities. The goal is to work with 15 individual congregations to develop and implement solid environmental projects that will reduce emissions, improve the environment and save on energy costs for participating churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples throughout the state of Indiana. 

We are also very excited about our seminar, Women in Faith - Images and Perceptions, scheduled for Thursday, February 17 from 4:00-6:00 pm in the Krannert Room of the Indiana Interchurch Center. We will be welcoming Bishop Cate Waynick from the Episcopal Church, Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith from The Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Shejae Khan from Islamic Society of North America, as well as other women offering diverse voices of faith as part of our featured panel. 

And on February 26, we are excited to be working with OBAT Helpers for their dinner and presentation by Anwar Khan describing his recent visit to the Bihari refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Please visit our website at www.internationalinterfaith.org for more information, and we hope you'll join us for some of these exciting interfaith events!