Professional Development

Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives with Margot Holtzman

As a librarian, it is no surprise that I love stories. I devoured them as a child and

continue to relish the opportunity to look out of another person’s eyes, think their thoughts and care about what they care about. A compelling story, well told, can speak directly to our hearts and minds.

“My work with SEED, both as a member and now a facilitator, has been the most important professional work I have been involved in as a teacher.” -Elementary School Teacher “

My passion for stories has been fueled by reading stories from writers whose voices are often silenced or ignored. The stories I read in the MP&MS SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) group last year included the voices of immigrants, the voices of people that are invisible to society and the disenfranchised. The experience brought together my love of stories and my passion for social justice and equity.

I wanted to learn more about how to bring issues of diversity and equity deeper into my life and the MP&MS community. To that end, this past summer, I attended a five day training with the National SEED Project. It was a profound and life changing experience for which I will always be grateful. SEED is an organization that trains educators to facilitate and lead seminars at their school. The goal of these peer-led seminars is to expand our learning and experience of race, gender, class and other societal systems, to make us feel more connected as a school, and to help create curriculum that will better serve our students and the communities in which we live and work. This is the second year that MP&MS has held the SEED seminar and I am now a co-facilitator. I look forward to bringing all that I have learned to my colleagues, the classroom, and the greater community. My SEED training helps create a more equitable and diverse MP&MS community.

“SEED is the best way I know to find time for the conversations we don’t always get to have during the school day: conversations about ourselves, about the kind of community we aspire to be, about justice and injustice. The readings are always stimulating and the conversations are heartfelt.” -Secondary School Teacher

“I enjoyed reading books and seeing documentaries that I never would have read or seen without SEED. I learned a lot from the other members of the group and enjoyed getting to know my colleagues better.” -MP&MS Teacher “