Research & Innovation Grants

UPLIFT: Students of Color Mentoring Program (2018-19)

How might we ensure the identities of students of color are affirmed in the RCDS community?

Overview

The definition of “uplift” is to cause an increase in happiness or hopefulness as well as to raise someone or something to a higher position. UPLIFT was created last year as a unique initiative designed to support and enrich the experience of girls of color at Rye Country Day School. Last year's wonderful program and traditions will continue! If you participated last year, we are excited to have you back. If you have not participated before, we would love to have you join us.

We are also excited to add a boys component this year.

The UPLIFT program will connect Lower and Middle School girls and boys of color with Upper School mentors. Mentors and mentees will meet during scheduled UPLIFT events as well as individually arranged gathering times in between. In addition, UPLIFT will hold affinity events to bring together faculty, alumnae, students, parents, and guardians of color.

UPLIFT seeks to support students in navigating their gender as it intersects with their race and/or ethnicity. It is important to create a safe space for students to foster connections, process specific experiences, and build self-esteem. Together, we will discover what it means to have a shared identity, celebrate successes, raise issues, inspire change, and learn. Throughout the school year, we will hold monthly gatherings centered around identity and empowerment.
2019-20 Registration
Schedule of Gatherings:
3:30-4:30 in the Second Floor of the Cohen Center for the Creative Arts

October 15: UPLIFT student mentor and mentee gathering
November 19: UPLIFT student mentor and mentee gathering
December 13: UPLIFT student mentor and mentee gathering
January 31: UPLIFT student mentor and mentee gathering
February 19: UPLIFT student mentor and mentee gathering
March - No meeting April 16: UPLIFT student mentor and mentee gathering
May 27: End of Year Celebration with SoC (Parents/guardians encouraged to attend)

Recommended articles about affinity grouping and identity discussions

“At New York Private Schools, Challenging White Privilege From the Inside” (NY Times)
“Identity, Affinity, Reality” (Independent School Magazine)
“Can Racism Be Stopped in the Third Grade?” (NY Magazine)
Infants are able to nonverbally categorize people by race as early as 6 months (Katz & Kofkin, 1997)
Research by NAIS indicated that affinity groups allow for: building community, identifying issues, sharing successes, and promoting ideas for action (Batiste, 2006)
Affinity groups participation results in increased racial identity development and self-esteem. Download. (Hartness, 2012)
Toddlers as young as 2 years of age use racial categories to reason about people’s behaviors (Hirschfeld, 2008)