The New Year

Mission

Pollyanna creates discussion platforms for groups of people to explore issues of diversity, equity and inclusion;

and to share experiences and knowledge. We believe in being eternally optimistic even in the face of challenge. Pollyanna exists to be part of the solution.

Welcome from Casper Caldarola

Founder

January 2019

Greetings!

I hope your year is off to a great start! Pollyanna has hit the ground running in 2019 and below is a bit of what's been going on:

January Activities

• New City - St. Louis, MO

Due to the first snow storm in 5 years in St. Louis, New City had to postpone its first conference, Striving for Equity, Inclusion and Community, on January 12. The new date will be scheduled shortly.

• Dwight School - New York, NY

On January 18, Monique Vogelsang, who is spearheading the Pollyanna K-8 Racial Literacy Curriculum, led a very informative middle school assembly titled: Race: Both/And that captivated Dwight students during Friday last period!

• Vermont Academy - Saxtons River, VT

On January 19, Vermont Academy hosted its second conference titled: Everybody, Everybody: Reimagining Gender and Sexuality in Our Schools with keynote Dr. Sarah Miller.

"All of these conferences help students, faculty and families so much. This time we had a lot of parents who clearly wanted guidance on gender as it relates to their children. It felt so good to have a supportive environment." ~ Jennifer Zaccara, Head of School, V ermont Academy

• New School

We’re excited to announce the addition of the following school to the Pollyanna family:

Pennington - Pennington, NJ, independent school conference

Please reply to this email if you’re interested in hosting either conference model we offer.

• K-8 Racial Literacy Curriculum

We completed a successful test pilot with several schools and received helpful and positive qualitative and quantitative feedback. We are on schedule to release the curriculum this April.

• Fundraising

In December we received a $10,000 matching gift and we successfully raised those funds during that month. Thank you to those who contributed!

What’s coming in February?

• Francis Parker, San Diego, CA

This weekend, FP will host its first conference, Windows & Mirrors, which will take place on February 2 with keynote speaker Rosetta Lee.

• NAIS in Long Beach, CA

Let us know if you’ll be at NAIS in February. Pollyanna will be at Booth 13 and we hope to see you.

To start your year off, I'd like to leave you with the poem "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver and her wonderful and perfect question: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" The Pollyanna team has a lot on our list!

Wishing you a wild and precious 2019!