I urge you to be at school Saturday, March 2nd for an unforgettable evening of conversation and connection. Come to the gym at 5:30 to eat and chat with friends. (Bring some soup to share or just sample the souper skills of others.)

 

If you cannot make it that early, come at 6:30 to hear an amazing speaker. We have worked extremely hard to arrange an extraordinary opportunity to be with Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D, Associate Director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women.

 

Our faculty and staff will be working with Dr. McIntosh all day on February 23rd. She has a deep appreciation for Montessori education, and her approach to anti-bias work is a perfect match for our work with children. I have worked with her at the American Montessori Society National Conference, and I know that she will inspire and provoke us. Drawing on her strong repertoire of research, she will help us explore some of the subtle ways in which we may reinforce existing and systemic social norms, even when we do not intend nor want to do so.

 

Let me tell you a bit about Peggy McIntosh. She is a highly-sought-after speaker. She is founder and co-director of the National S.E.E.D. Project on Inclusive Curriculum (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). She consults nationally and internationally on creating gender-fair and multicultural curricula. She authored the ground-breaking White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies and its shorter form, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. She directs the Gender, Race, and Inclusive Education Project. Dr. McIntosh has taught English, American Studies, and Women’s Studies at the Brearley School, Harvard University, Trinity College (Washington, D.C.), Durham University (England), and Wellesley College. She has received two honorary degrees as well as the Klingenstein Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership from Columbia Teachers College. All that, and she is a delightful human being!

 

I invite you to make this a must-do priority. You won’t be sorry. 

 

Thanks for listening,

 

Biff Maier

LMS Director of Faculty & Curriculum Development