New DEIJ Initiative in Monthly "Connects"

MTS is excited to introduce our new DEIJ initiative called Connect spearheaded by our Director of Equity and Inclusion, Quincy Davis. With our theme for the year, Better Together, we have kickstarted our Connect sessions during which we provide a space to talk, listen, and gain a better understanding of how the world looks and feels for many inside and outside the MTS community. 

Each month the school community will pause and discuss DEIJ topics and issues that are impacting our respective communities, country, and the world. We will set aside thirty minutes during a homeroom or advisory period for Connect co-leaders in the Professional Community to work with students in each grade to discuss a predetermined topic. Examples of topics that will be discussed could include Jewish Holidays, Buddy Bears, Latin X Heritage, Religion, Holidays Around the World, MLK, and Women's History. 

Connect is meant to be an important time for our students and professional community to pause to try to better understand the world around us. As our theme says, we are better together. We encourage our family community to find a time on this day to pause and read a book, listen to a podcast or watch a Ted Talk related to the topic we will be discussing at school. Ideally, families will find time to have conversations as a family about what everyone learns related to the specific topic. 

Today, we held our first Connect! For our first topic, we discussed our MTS values. Our essential question was "How can we better live the MTS Values?" Every class started by watching a short video about the school's values. Then students were invited to reflect and communicate about all we value both together as a group and as individuals. How do our values show up in our lives? What does it look like on campus?