In November 2018, eight representatives from Hillbrook School, including administration, faculty, and staff, attended the 31st Annual People of Color Conference (PoCC) and 25th Annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) in Nashville, TN. PoCC is the pinnacle of the National Association of Independent School’s equity and justice initiatives. This conference provides social and professional support for people of color as they pursue strategies for success and leadership in independent schools. SDLC summons student leaders from across the country and addresses issues of personal identity and social justice in developing 21st century skills.
Ugina Covington attended this year’s conference and shared her thoughts in a letter to Hillbrook School. Here is her letter.
Dear Hillbrook School Community,
My name is Ugina Covington and I am a kindergarten teacher. Last week, I, along with seven of my esteemed colleagues, had the honor of representing our school at the 31st Annual NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) and 25th Annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC). I cannot begin to tell you how important these conferences are and how much I look forward to attending them. This is my safe space. As a person of color teaching at an independent school, it can be lonely searching for others who understand your story and can truly empathize with the struggles of people of color across this country and world. Attending PoCC allows me to connect and reconnect with current and past colleagues and students who understand and support each other in the loneliness we face at our independent schools. We are ready and understand the importance of making our schools safe places that cultivate kindness and address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusivity. Trust me, attending this conference can feel daunting, as we have a huge mission to address and accomplish. Also, I usually do not sleep well the night before the conference in anticipation of all the amazing work I am going to be charged with doing over the next three days. This is when I rely on the words of my Grandpa George, who always said, “Live your best life…You can sleep when you’re dead!”
I wish that I could highlight every ounce of the conference, (highs and lows…Yes, there are low moments, too. Like, the fact that the conference has to come to an end!) but that in and of itself could possibly take a lifetime to express and share. I want to share with you my personal highlights from this year’s conference that were most meaningful to me.
Every year, it is a daunting task to choose from over one hundred acclaimed workshops during the three days of the conference. I often start out by choosing six workshops at one given time slot. Then I painfully narrow my decision down to two. This is always very hard because all the workshops sound amazing!
This year, I made the decision to attend Upstream: Using Music to Build Beloved Communities in Preschool to Third Grade Classrooms. This workshop was presented by two male elementary school teachers (one black and one white) who teach in Philadelphia area independent schools. They have formed a musical group called City Love and their music is both inspiring and uplifting to children and adults. Presenters Brian Jordan (The Philadelphia School) and Dwight Dunston (Friends’ Central School) took me and my fellow workshop attendees on a musical journey “upstream” to assist us in helping our youngest students understand and appreciate talking and learning about issues of diversity, equity, and inclusivity. Brian and Dwight shared numerous original songs that guide young students into developmentally appropriate classroom conversations around racial justice and identity affirmation. They spoke about building inclusive communities, dissolving nascent prejudice, and inviting the challenge for young people to exemplify respect and equity in the face of public role models demonstrating the opposite.
My hands and heart were full of joy as I sang along to their music and saw former Hillbrook Teacher Emily Sleasman—and discussed with my fellow attendees how we could use each song shared in our classroom with our children to stir up important diversity conversations that our students are ready to have with each other. City Love’s music will get into your soul and you will find yourself singing these songs for days and weeks to come. Please, please, please look for their music and share it with all children, educators, and parents you know. I wish that I could share all of their lyrics with you, but I will leave you with the chorus from the song that still resonates in my heart and mind titled, “Make It Beautiful” that says, “When you’re with me, we’re gonna make it beautiful, we’re gonna make it beautiful, we’re gonna make it beautiful! When you’re with me, we’re gonna make it equal, and we can show the people, and they can make the sequel!”
Since 1989, when I was given the book Families in Peril: An Agenda for Social Change by Marian Wright Edelman, I knew my future was destined to change the lives of young people for the better in our country. Mrs. Edelman’s commitment to providing quality early childhood education, healthcare, and services to some of the poorest children in our country is beyond commendable. Mrs. Edelman’s national organization, The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), strives to enrich the lives of young children by advocating, researching, and documenting issues faced by poor children in our country. She also was very active in several school desegregation cases and served as a board member for the Child Development Group of Mississippi, which represented one of the largest Head Start programs in the country. Mrs. Edelman and the CDF are the primary voice for poor children, children of color, and children with disabilities. She also has worked to influence Congress to overhaul the foster care system and to improve child care and protect children who are homeless, abused or neglected. As she expresses it, “If you don’t like the way the world is, you have an obligation to change it. Just do it one step at a time.” Mrs. Edelman believes in greater parental responsibility in teaching values and diminishing what she sees as children’s exposure to a storm of violent images transmitted by mass media. Several of Mrs. Edelman’s books highlight the importance of children’s rights. In her 1987 book titled, Families in Peril: An Agenda for Social Change, Edelman stated, “As adults, we are responsible for meeting the needs of children. It is our moral obligation. We brought about their births and their lives, and they cannot fend for themselves.”
Mrs. Edelman has the Oprah effect on my life! Being able to listen to her poignant speech and knowing that this woman is truly part of the reason why I have dedicated my life to the helping all children was beyond a blessing and highlight of my PoCC experience. I immediately rushed after her speech to attend her book signing and had my picture taken with her. I expressed my sincere gratitude for her dedicated work in improving the lives of the most vulnerable children in our society. I also shared with Mrs. Edelman my own hope and plan to improve and provide quality early childhood educational opportunities for Latinx children in the San Jose, CA area. I was beyond thrilled when she shared her contact information with me and said, “Keep me posted of your project and how my organization can support you in the future!” If you ever get a chance to see the photograph that was take of us during the book signing, it’s hard to decide who is happier at that moment, me or Mrs. Edelman!
Finally, I would be remiss not to share this very heartfelt story with you, as I had a reunion with a past student who is now in 10th grade and attended SDLC for the first time. I am desperately trying to write and share this story with you without too many happy tears stopping me from my writing process.
In 2008, I decided to re-enter the classroom as a teacher after a very successful career as an admissions and outreach director at a small independent school in Stanford, CT. I applied and was offered several job offers at independent schools in the New York City. I narrowed down my offers to three specific girls’ schools and asked each one of the Lower School Heads if I could return to their school for a final visit before making my final job decision. When I first visited the Chapin School located on the Upper East Side of NYC, I was taken by the deep traditions and hallmarks of this well-established girls’ school. I was made aware that the school was trying to increase their student diversity since at the time there was only one or two girls of color in an entire grade of sixty students. I did my demonstration lesson in a kindergarten classroom and met a young girl by the name of Ayanna. Ayanna was this bright-eyed and spunky five year old African-American girl who was truly in awe of my presence in her classroom and school. Ayanna never left my side during my demonstration visit and I could feel a magical connection between us. I will never forget that the day I returned to the Chapin School for a “second look” and to make my final employment decision was also my birthday. I visited two kindergarten classrooms and was warmly greeted by the students I spoke with in each class. It was a few moments after I entered the third kindergarten classroom that changed my life forever. Ayanna was playing in the dramatic play area with a group of friends singing and laughing as they played together. When she saw me across the room sitting with a group of students who were working on a puzzle, she instantly stopped playing and shouted with the brightest smile on her round chubby face, “The Black Lady Is Back, The Black Lady Is Back!” I knew in that instant, that this child needed me at this school. She was eager to have a face, to have a “mirror” to connect with and it was my calling to be that reflection for this child.
I was never Ayanna’s classroom teacher, but we became very close friends and I always looked out for Ayanna during my years as a teacher at The Chapin School. On my final day at PoCC, I ran into a group of Chapin Girls and shared with them how excited and proud I was to see them participating in this year’s Student Diversity Leadership Conference. I spoke to a specific young lady and asked her to please tell Ayanna when she returned to Chapin that, “Ms. CovCov sends her love!” The young lady looked at me awkwardly and stated, “Ms. Covington, Ayanna is right over there…” When I turned to see Ayanna standing some 200 feet away from me, my heart melted and we both ran over and embraced in a huge hug and began to cry! It’s moments like this that bring me full circle as to why I am still a Black woman teaching at an independent school, when this road can be a very lonely one. I do it for the “Ayannas” of this world and her white allies and friends who need to hear my story and the stories of their Black and Brown friends, who come from vast diverse backgrounds in order for us to appreciate each other in this world.
Thank you for allowing me to share my story with you!
Peace, hope and love,
Ugina Covington